170 



THE YOUNG NATURALIST. 



solitary, cream-coloured flowers ; its 

 close, compact habit of growth, never 

 exceeding a bush three feet in height ; 

 and its small leaves with four to six 

 pairs of leaflets. It loves to grow on 

 dry, sandy, or shingly banks, and is 

 often found on links by the seashore. 

 It is a handsome and favourite flower 

 and is often called the field rose. The 

 other species [R. involuta) is more 

 generally and widely distributed, but 

 is not a common rose. It is very 

 variable, there being over a dozen 

 named sub-species. It grows in thick- 

 ets and hedges, of an erect, robust 

 habit, taller and stouter in all its 

 parts than the last, with two or three 

 pink flowers in a cluster. 



In the second group the prickles are 

 still straight and slender, but they are 

 very nearly uniform in size and scat- 

 tered upon the stem. The plants have 

 an erect habit of growth, forming 

 bushes' three or four feet in height. 

 The leaves are always less or more 

 densely clothed with hairs, giving a 

 soft grey hue to the whole foliage. 

 There are two species [R. mollisissima 

 and tomentosa) with several varieties 

 differing by the amount of pubescence 

 on the leaves and the divisions of the 

 calyx-lobes. They flower early, with 

 white or deep red blossoms, and are 

 fairly frequent, being most abundant 

 in the north of England. 



In the third group the prickles are 

 nearly similar to the last, but still 



show a gradual transition towards the ; 

 next group — being slightly thickened 

 towards the base, and with a tendency , 

 to become hooked at the apex. There j 

 are few hairs on the leaves, but the 

 foliage is densely covered with minute 

 glands, which in the Eglantine or 

 sweet-brier {R. ruUginosa) exhales 

 the delicious odour that is so dehght- , 

 ful on a dewy summer's eve. This 

 fragrance is confined to the sweet-brier, 

 for in the other species of the group 

 [R. micrajitJia) , although the glands 

 are present the perfume is awanting. 

 Although^the eglantine is undoubtedly 

 indigenous it is much more frequently 

 met with in cultivation than in the 

 wild states. 



j In the fourth group which includes 

 I the great bulk of our wild roses, 

 1 the prickles are all obviously thick- 

 ened downwards to the base, where 

 they readily break off from the 

 stem leaving a well-defined scar as 

 deep as the prickle is long, they are 

 also decidedly hooked. This group 

 includes three species ; E. systyla, in 

 which the styles are united into a 

 column, is rare, being only found in a 

 few localities in the south ; B. arvensis 

 is more widely distributed, but still 

 scarce in Scotland and Northern j 

 England; it may be known by its j 

 climbing habit, long purple shoots | 

 with few parrot-beak-like prickles, and j 

 numerous flowers in a cluster. To R. j 

 canina the type of this group nine- j 



