June, 1915 
THE GARDEN M A G A Z I N E 
L 255 
central China, and in this same region the 
wild form of the Banksian Rose with single 
white flowers is extraordinarily abundant; 
so also is the Cherokee Rose and further 
west, in Szechuan, the prototype of the 
Small-leaved Rose ( R . Roxburghii ) is one 
of the most common wayside shrubs. 
The genus Rosa is confined to the north- 
ern Hemisphere and its members are found 
scattered over the cool and warm temperate 
and the sub-tropic regions of Asia, Europe, 
and North America, some of them are 
found in northern Africa but no species 
How the modern Rose is grown for garden embellishment 
on the Pacific Coast 
is endemic there. It is an exceedingly 
difficult genus to classify and botanists 
differ greatly in the estimate of the number 
of species. One botanist asserts that all may 
be included under three species; in the 
“Index Kewensis” more than five hundred 
species are enumerated. In the Arnold 
Arboretum Herbarium twenty-six species 
are recognized as indigenous to North Amer- 
ica; and of these virtually only one ( R . seti- 
gera), the Prairie Rose, has been utilized by 
the hybridist to date, and this but sparingly. 
However it is well to mention that a double- 
flowered form of Rosa virginiana, known as 
Rosed’Amour, has been known since 1768, 
and quite recently Rosa humilis has been 
crossed with Rosa rugosa. 
Except in gardens devoted to forming 
collections of plants, species of Rose, with 
a few exceptions, are rarely cultivated and 
it is trite to say that Roses as ordinarily 
understood are “made,” not discovered 
wild. In other words they are the product 
of the gardeners’ skill. I would I could take 
the average reader of this magazine to the 
mountain fastnesses of central and western 
China, and to certain remote parts of Japan 
and there introduce him to the wild types — • 
the raw products — from which have been 
evolved our “ Killarneys,” “American 
Beauty,” “Mrs. Chas. Russell,” “Lady 
Hillingdon,” “Caroline Testout,” “Mrs. 
George Shawver”; our “Rambler” and 
Wichuraiana Hybrid for decorative pillar effect 
“ Wichuraiana” Hybrids and innumerable 
others, and his or her astonishment would 
be profound. Truly it hardly seems cred- 
ible that the Roses of to-day had such a 
lowly origin. 
The French Rose (R. gallica), Provence 
Rose ( R . proviencialis) and Cabbage Rose 
(R. centifolia ) are said to be the only Roses 
known to Pliny, and it must be confessed 
that the distinctions between these so-called 
species are not obvious. From earliest 
limes in the Occident, down to the end of 
the eighteenth century, the Roses so much 
extolled by ancient writers and by our 
ancestors were either wild species native 
of Persia, Asia Minor, and Europe, or 
garden forms derived therefrom. These 
would include, in addition to those afore- 
mentioned, the White Rose (R. alba), the 
Musk Rose (R. moschata), the Damask 
Rose (R. damascena) , the Cinnamon Rose 
The modern American Rose, specially adapted for forcing 
in winter under glass 
{R. cinnamomea), the Moss Rose (R. 
centifolia var. muscosa ), Sweet Briar (R. 
eglanteria), Sulphur Rose (R. hemisphaerica ) , 
Austrian Briar (R.foetida), and the Austrian 
Copper ( R.foetida var. bicolor). 
About the end of the eighteenth century 
the Ayrshire Roses were originated from 
R. arvensis, and early in the nineteenth cen- 
tury the Boursault Roses were developed, 
through crossing the Alpine Rose ( R . 
pendulina) with R. chinensis, and the Scotch 
Briars from R. spinosissima. Virtually all 
have disappeared from general cultivation 
Characteristic use of Rose on an English cottage 
in the gardens of Europe and North 
America. And all the species of Rose 
indigenous to North America, Europe and 
Asia Minor have fallen into disfavor and 
are no longer used by the Rose hybridist 
with the exception of those which have 
yellow flowers. 
In Roumelia and other parts of the Bal- 
kan peninsula, and on a small scale in parts 
of India, the French, Cabbage, and Damask 
Roses are extensively cultivated for the 
preparation of Attar of Roses. But as 
garden Roses the old have given place to the 
new, and the gardens of to-day are re- 
splendent with the products of the Bengal, 
Tea, Rambler, and Wichuraiana Roses, 
natives of China and Japan. 
New garden Roses are originated by the 
hybridizing of different species, varieties, 
and forms, and as sports from existing forms 
as in the case of “White Killarney” and 
many others. They are raised by means 
of seeds, cuttings, layering, budding, and 
grafting, but it is no part of my purpose 
to enter into these details. The object 
here is to tell of what has been, to show the 
source of what is, and to hint of what may 
yet be evolved. In this connection the 
accompanying synoptical chart illustrates 
the concrete facts in the evolution of the 
modern garden Roses. 
Of the vast array of Rose species not more 
than two dozen have in the past history of 
