ROSA BORBONICA 
and, except during a season of great drought, one or other of these 
Roses is always to be found in flower. A M. Perichon, an inhabitant 
of the island, on planting a quantity of seedling roses raised for a 
hedge, found one very different from the rest and planted it apart. 
On flowering it proved to be distinct from any rose hitherto known. 
In the year 1817 a French botanist, M. Br^on, was put in charge of 
the Royal Botanic Garden established on the island. M. Pdrichon’s 
seedling Rose interested him greatly, and after careful investigation he 
came to the conclusion that it originated from a natural cross between 
the two species named above. At that time there were no other 
Roses whatever growing on the island. In 1819 M. Br^on sent seeds 
and the plants of the new Rose to Jaques, gardener to the Duke of 
Orleans at Neuilly near Paris, and from these have sprung the whole 
race of Bourbon Roses. It is more than probable that both the seeds 
and plants, which arrived in Paris under the name of Rose Edward , 
were the result of a second cross, and that they had been fertilised 
again with one or other of the parents. Other writers have given the 
date of the introduction of this Rose into France as 1823 and 1824. 
The first variations from the type appeared in 1831. They were 
raised by Desprez of Guignes, Seine-et- Marne, and under the names 
of Charles Desprez and Mine. Desprez are still to be found in 
gardens. A few years later Desprez raised purple and red varieties, 
and then Plantier of Lyons and other growers continued to introduce 
novelties of greater or less merit. In 1843 Deluze of Lyons raised 
the beautiful and still favourite Rose Souvenir de la Malmaison. The 
Rose Kronprinzessin Victoria von P reus sen, sometimes called the 
Yellow Malmaison , which was introduced by Volvert in 1888, was a 
sport from the original Souvenir de la Malmaison . 
Mr. William Paul 1 enumerates forty-six varieties of the Bourbon 
Rose, in addition to thirty-eight Bourbon Perpetuals and eight Hybrid 
Bourbons. These Bourbon Roses are best distinguished from those 
originating from Rosa chinensis Jacq. by their prickles being inter- 
mixed with aciculi, by their glandular peduncles, and by their more 
compound calyx-segments, which are glandular on the back. All the 
Bourbon Roses preserve the characteristic of perpetual flowering. 
The first plate is the true Rosa borbonica , the second is the hybrid 
Bourbon, Souvenir de Mme. Auguste Charles , which was raised by 
Moreau-Robert in 1866. 
1 Rose Garden , ed. ix. p. 295 (1888). 
340 
