ROSA PROVINCIALIS 
Rosa provincialis is probably one of the Roses known in the 
earliest times and mentioned by the classical writers. It is included 
in Gerard’s list of the plants grown in his Holborn garden in 1596. 
Parkinson mentions and figures three forms of Rosa provincialis 1 ; 
Besler figures a Rosa provincialis flore albo 2 ; and Miller enumerates 
five forms of his Rosa provincialis , calling them all Provence Roses. 
Lindley considered the Rosa provincialis of Miller and the Rosa 
centifolia of Linnaeus as identical, and thought, moreover, that 
Linnaeus was probably acquainted with the Provins and officinal Roses 
and had both growing in his garden at Upsala. De Pronville 3 
enumerates several varieties of Rosa provincialis , always adding the 
name Provence. He remarks, however, that all the varieties have 
many characters in common, so that it is not surprising that some 
writers have not sufficiently distinguished between them. Miller 
especially, who cultivated these Roses in England, did not, he thinks, 
describe them with sufficient precision. 
There has been a great deal of confusion between the names 
Provence and Provins, and between the Roses classed under the two 
names. Prevost, in his chapter on “ Rosiers de Provins,” 4 gives : 
Rosier de Provence, Rosa Provincialis, 
Rosier de Provins, Rosa Provincialis, 
Rosier Gallique, Rosa Gallica, 
and says that, although the types are perfectly distinct, they cross so 
freely that in the hybrids the distinctive characters become too much 
intermixed to be recognizable. In a carefully prepared table, he takes 
each part of the Rose separately and sets forth the differences between 
the three types. 
The name of the Provins Rose is supposed to have arisen from 
the legend related by Loiseleur-Deslongchamps 5 and repeated by 
nearly all writers upon the Rose. It is said that these Roses were 
brought from Syria by Thibaut le Chansonnier, who cultivated them 
in his garden at Provins. It was natural that the inhabitants of 
Provins should cling faithfully to a legend so picturesque, and for a 
long period the cultivation of these Roses was a considerable source 
of income to the district, the growers maintaining their superiority 
over Roses grown in other parts of France. In 1807 the inhabitants 
of Provins petitioned the Minister of the Interior to grant them the 
privilege of supplying the Roses required by the military hospitals 
and pharmacies. 
Botanists are not yet agreed upon the precise relation of these 
two Roses, and their exact position still remains a vexed question. 
They certainly are very nearly allied. The Provins Rose is generally 
1 Paradisus, p. 413 (1629). ■ 4 Cat. des Rosiers , p. 84 (1829). 
2 Hortus Eystettensis, Vern. Ordo. VI. fol. 3 (1613). 5 La Rose, p. 68 (1844). 
3 Nomenclature, p. 49 (1818). 
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