NOTES ON THE ORIGIN OF THE MOSS-ROSE. 
31 
Lindley (1820) cleared the matter up, and since then the Cabbage- 
Rose has been known correctly under the original name of Linnaeus, 
R. centifolia. In conclusion it may be useful to mention that the 
most accurate and life-like coloured drawing of the old Cabbage- 
Rose is to be found in Redoute (1817). Miss Willmott (1912) con- 
siders this to be the most beautiful of all his wonderful drawings of 
Roses, and we agree. 
History of the Old Moss-Rose. 
The Old Moss-Rose is of recent origin compared with the Cabbage 
Rose. Its mossy flower-buds and stalks, and bristly stems and 
branches, together form such a striking variation that its appear- 
ance could hardly fail to be noticed by even the most casual 
observer. So far as we can trace, no mention of it is made by any 
of the ancient authors who were familiar with the Cabbage-Rose, nor 
do any of the old herbalists appear to have noted it. If it had been 
in existence in their day, the balsamic odour of its mossy glands 
would surely have attracted them in their search for medicinal virtues 
and specifics. Gerard (1596) does not mention the Moss-Rose in his 
Catalogue of Plants, but Dr. Day don Jackson (1876) in his 
edition of Gerard's Catalogue, suggests that Gerard's R. holosericea, 
The Velvet Rose, may be the Moss-Rose (R. muscosa Mill.). 
This plant is described and figured by Gerard (1597) and the flowers 
and fruits are described as " double with some yellow thrums in the 
midst of a deepe and black red colour resembling red crimson velvet 
. . . when the flowers be faded there followe red berries full of hard 
seeds." This description does not appear to correspond at all with 
the old Moss-Rose which has pink flowers when expanded, and is 
so double that the stamens and styles are seldom exposed, and finally 
being sterile rarely, if ever, sets either fruits or seeds. The figure 
(which is identical with that of L'Obel, 1581) shows no trace of the 
familiar and striking mossiness, while the flowers are ' ' semi-single ' ' 
(two rows of petals), with stamens and styles fully exposed, and it 
is bearing rounded fruits. Parkinson (1629) also gives figures of both 
the single and the double Velvet Rose. In his description he states 
that they have " very few or no thorns at all upon them . . . very 
often seven flowers on a stalk . . . yet for all the double rowe of 
leaves these roses stand but like single flowers ... all of them of 
a smaller sent than the ordinary red Rose." Salmon (1710), after 
repeating Parkinson's description of the Single and Double Velvet 
Rose, states that " there is another Velvet Rose much more double 
than the last, consisting oftentimes of sixteen leaves or more in a 
Rose, and most of them of an equal bigness, of the colour of the 
first single Velvet Rose or something brisker, but all of them of a 
weaker smell than the Common Red Rose." Lawrance (1799) an< ^ 
Andrews (1805) figure both the Single and Double Velvet Rose under 
the name of R. centifolia, but both appear to be forms of R. gallica L., 
