218 JOUKNAL OF THE KOYAL HOETICULTUEAL SOCIETY. 



THE INTRODUCTION OF ROSA BANKSIAE. 

 By E. H. Woodall, F.R.H.S. 



A cueious fact concerning the Banksian Rose has this year come to light. 

 The double white form of Bosa Banksiae was introduced to Kew in the 

 early part of the nineteenth century, in 1815, but Wm. Kerr, according to 

 a note in the Botanical Begister, had it in cultivation as early as 1807. 

 The double yellow was introduced some years later, and the single yellow 

 only made its appearance about 1870. The typical form, the single 

 white, remained unknown, though many inquiries were made for it in 

 France, where these climbing roses abound in every garden in the Riviera, 

 as well as in Italy and Switzerland. Four years ago I found a rose 

 growing on the wall of Megginch Castle, Strathtay, Scotland, which 

 seemed to me a very slender-growing form of B. Banksiae. Captain 

 Drummond of Megginch told me it was a rose that his ancestor, Robert 

 Drummond, had brought with other plants from China the year his 

 brother, Admiral Sir W. Drummond, had cruised in the China seas, in 

 1796. This old rose had been repeatedly cut to the ground by severe 

 winters, and rarely if ever had been known to flower. The impression, 

 however, was that it was white and very small. Captain Drummond 

 kindly gave me cuttings, which I took to Nice, and this year they 

 flowered, proving themselves to be the typical single white Banksian rose 

 so long sought for and hidden away in this nook of Scotland for more 

 than a hundred years. The introduction of the Banksian rose, therefore, 

 is due to Robert Drummond of Megginch, who brought it from China in 

 the year 1796. 



