ROSA BLANDA 
the Rosa virginiana of Miller ; but as it was not in cultivation till 1773, 
it cannot have been known to either Parkinson or Miller. Aitonwas 
the first to describe it, and his description exactly fits the Labrador 
Rose now in our gardens. 
Jacquin describes and figures a glabrous-leaved form well known 
to other botanists. Rcdoute figures the same form under the name 
of Rosa alpina laevis } Lindley made two separate species of the two 
forms, calling the pubescent form Rosa blanda and the glabrous form 
Rosa fraxinifolia . He never saw a living specimen of the pubescent 
form, and his Monograph does not include plates of either ; but Rosa 
fraxinifolia, the glabrous form, is figured in the Botanical Register . 
Andrews gives a drawing and description of a much-armed Rose 
which he calls Rosa blanda , 2 but which has no resemblance whatever 
to the Rosa blanda of Aiton. He was no doubt misled into accepting 
as Rosa blanda a Rose cultivated in Loddiges’ Nursery as the Hudson’s 
Bay Rose. 
Rosa blanda is generally found in damp, rocky situations ; it 
ranges from Labrador, Canada, and the northern United States, 
across the continent to Vancouver Island. The flowers, which are 
sweet-scented, are rather large and a rich pink in colour. The hips 
do not last so long on the bushes as those of Rosa Carolina L. and 
Rosa humilis Marsh., and are not so bright in colour, but it is a pretty 
Rose, one of the earliest to flower, and altogether well worth growing. 
Its forms are infinite, and are a source of endless bewilderment to 
amateurs who attempt to determine their wild Roses. The plates 
represent two of the forms most frequently met with. 
Rosa blanda , var. Willmottiana (see accompanying plate) is a 
form growing in Warley garden, which was raised from seed sent 
from America and which Mr. Baker considered sufficiently well 
marked to be given a varietal name. It is an extremely pretty and 
interesting Rose with its red stem, small leaves, and clustered, coral- 
pink flowers. It is free-flowering and compact in growth. 
1 Roses , vol. i. pp. 50, 60, t. (1817). 
2 Roses , vol. ii. t. 90 (1828). 
308 
