206 
THE ROSE. 
description given of this flower by Dioscorides is, that it bore some resemblance in form to 
the white violet, and that it was woven into crowns, and hence derived its specific name, 
coronaria or coronal. Pliny states of the R. Grseca, that in size it equalled the violet, that 
it grew only in moist places and was scentless. 
The R. Graecula had very broad petals which were convoluted into the form of a 
ball, they did not expand except when forced by the hand, and presented an appearance of 
always growing. 
The R. Moscheuton had olive-shaped petals, and grew upon a stem resembling that of 
the mallow. 
The R. Coroneolawas an autumnal Rose, and, when compared with the above, was 
about a middle size. The latter probably was specially used in forming garlands, especially 
as it is marked out by Pliny as being a fragrant Rose. 
The Prsenestine, Trachinian, and Milesian Roses have been hitherto regarded as 
varieties of the Rose, known to modern cultivators of this plant as the Rose de Provence. 
Among the less regarded Roses enumerated by Pliny is the R. sylvestris. This Rose, 
called also by the same author Cynorrhodon, grew upon a brier having a leaf resembling 
the impress of a man's foot (!). Theophrastus, who also alludes to this Rose, says it bore 
fruit of a red colour. Among the thorns of the shoots of this Rose grew a round sponge- 
like substance resembling a chestnut ; Pliny says it grew especially on the Cynorrhodon, 
and that it contained a grub, which produced the insects called Cantharides ; a statement 
which had been previously made by Aristotle. In this spongy substance we easily recog- 
nise the prickly excrescences which are found more or less on all Rose trees, but most 
especially on the R. canina, as it grows wild in our fields, and which are produced by the 
Cynips Rosse. 
It has been thought that the R. sylvestris of Pliny resembled the R. eglantina or 
rubiginosa of LinnsBus, which he for a long time referred to R. canina as stated by Fries. 
This Rose obtained its synonym, Cynorrhodon or Canina, from a supposition that its root 
was a beneficial remedy for the bite of mad dogs ; an instance of its supposed curative 
property is credulously recorded by Pliny. 
It is somewhat remarkable that Pliny has not expressly indicated among those he has 
noticed, the twice-blowing Roses of Psestum, so often referred to by the Roman poets. By 
some the Psestan Rose is stated as being of a deep red colour, others have said it was almost 
white. To these Roses and the Psestan Rosaries, where they were so abundantly cultivated, 
Virgil, Martial, Ovid, and Propertius frequently allude, speaking of their abundance, 
fragrance, and colour, and of their blooming twice a year. There was a Rose still blooming 
amid the ruins of Paestum when visited by Mr. Swinburne ; and he says, in his Travels in 
the Two Sicilies : " The Psestan Rose from its peculiar fragrance and the singularity of its 
blowing twice a year, is often mentioned with predilection by the classic poets. The wild 
Rose that now shoots up among the ruins is of the single damask kind, with a very high 
perfume. As a farmer assured me on the spot, it flowers both in spring and autumn." 
The Prsenestine and Campanian Roses obtained, it seems, their specific names from their 
localities. The Trachinian Rose appears to have been a native of Thessaly, growing near 
the city of Heraclea, called also Trachinia. The Milesian and Alabandic Roses derived 
their names, the former from Miletus, a city in the Island of Crete, where we are informed 
it was first found, and the latter from Alabanda, a city of Caria in Asia Minor. 
We propose next to consider the modes by which Roses were cultivated, and afford such 
information regarding the ancient Rosaries or Rose plantations as we have been able to glean. 
