ROSA MOSCHATA 
as /\osa BnLiwnii of Linclley (var. ncpalcnsis) and Rosa Pissarti of 
Carriere (var. nastumna Christ). A great many well-known garden 
roses are nwscJiata hybrids, such as the Noisettes, Rosa nivea Don, and 
probably Rosa dainascena Mill. There is also a fine hybrid between 
Rosa nwschata and Rosa sempervirens L. 
Rosa nwschata is the Musk Rose so beloved of our ancestors, and 
the old writers speak of it with affection. Its introduction into England 
IS given by Hakluyt, who, writing in i 599, says that “the Artichowe 
was brought in the time of King Henry the Eight, and of later time 
was procured out of Italy the Muske Rose Plant,” ^ so it may rank as 
an Elizabethan plant. All the varieties are easily known by the central 
column of styles, which are more united in the Musk Roses than in 
any other of the Systylac ; and the rigid foliage, strongly pinnate in 
feeling, together with the forcibly detlexed petals, are characters which 
must be regarded as vital to a proper conception of the species. The 
scent is not pleasant to all, though Bacon reckoned it as the sweetest 
smell in the air next to the violet. At times, and indeed generally, 
Rosa nwschata is almost scentless ; but in certain states of the atmo- 
sphere it is more or less fragrant, and undoubtedly the scent is strongest 
at night. The jilant is very easily propagated by cuttings. 
In an unpublished diary Sir George \Vatt thus describes the Rose 
as he has met with it in the Himalaya : 
“ This is by far the most obvious and most characteristic Rose of the Himalaya. 
It climbs over the l)ushes by the wayside and over the small trees of the forest. It 
thus produces dense rounded masses which when in bloom look like patches of 
snow. Its bright flowers are the delight of bird and bee, and they perfume the air 
in a manner few people could realize who have not lived in the invigorating atmo- 
sphere of the early months of summer on the outer ranges of these mountains. And 
yet a bunch in the hand is overpowering rather than pleasant. Rut the western 
Himalaya without the musk rose would be without half their charm.” 
Rcdotitc^ and Miss Eawrance ^ ligurc a double form. Andrews 
ligLires var. y/. //.* and var. cawiea:' 
Rosa polyantha, var. gnindijJora (see accompanying plate) was 
raised by Bernaix from seed obtained from J\osa nwschata. Some 
dou 1 :)t, however, exists as to its origin. Crepm, who at first regarded 
it as a mere variety of Rosa nwschata,^ afterwards came round to the 
opinion of M. Viviand MoreH that it was a hyl)rid ha\ang Rosa 
inultijtoi'a Thunb. for one of its parents. He considered that the 
influence of this Rose w^as shovm in the ciliated bracts and stipules, in 
the somewhat pyramidal inflorescence and in the shorth’ ovoid buds. 
He was not, however, conx inced that the other parent was Rosa 
nwschata, as M. Viviand Morel beliex’ed, but thought it ecjually likely 
to be Rosa sempervirens E.® 
' Principal Navigations . . . ed. 2, vol. ii. pt. i. p. 165 (1599). * Roses, vol. i. p. 99 (1S17). 
^ Roses, t. S3 (1799). ' Roses, vol. ii. t. 94 (1828). * lb. t. 95. “ Jonni. des Roses, 1891, p. 42. 
' Lyon Horticole, No. 17 (Sept. 15, 1891). Bull. Soc. Bot. Bclg. vol. x.xxiii. pt. 1, pp. 120, 121 0 ^ 594 )- 
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