9— ROSA MOSCHATA Miller 
THE MUSK ROSE 
Rosa moschata: caule elongato, viridi, sarmentoso; aculeis sparsis, conformibus, 
parvis, falcatis ; foliolis 5-7, oblongis, acutis, simpliciter serratis, facie glabris, dorso 
pubescentibus ; rhachi pubescente, vix glandulosa ; stipulis adnatis, apice libero, 
lanceolato ; floribus pluribus, corymbosis ; pedunculis pubescentibus, parce setosis ; 
calycis tubo oblongo; lobis ovato-lanceolatis, exterioribus parce pinnatifidis; petalis 
albis; stylis pilosis, coalitis, protrusis; fructu globoso, parvo, rubro; sepalis reflexis, 
caducis. 
R. moschata Miller, Gant Did. ed. 8, vol. ii. No. 13 (1768). — Jacquin, Hoyt. 
Schoen. vol. iii. t. 280 (1798) ; Fragm. p. 31, t. 34, fig. 3 (1809). — Lawrance, Roses , 
t. 64 (1799). — Roessig, Die Rosen, No. 27 (1802-1820). — Thory in Redoutc, Roses , 
vol. i. p. 33, t. (1817). — Lindley, Ros. Monogr. p. 121, No. 68 (1820); Dot. Reg. 
vol. x. t. 829, 861 (1824). — Hayne, Arzn. vol. xi. t. 33 (1830). — Christ in Boissier, 
FI. Orient. Suppl. p. 229 (1888). — Brandis, Indian Trees , p. 288 (1906). 
R. opsostemma Ehrhart, Beitr. zur Nat nr k. vol. ii. p. 72 (1788). 
R. arbor ea Persoon, Syn. pt. 2, p. 50 (1807). 
Stem tall, green, arching or sarmentose; prickles small, scattered, stout, hooked, 
uniform. Leaflets 5-7, oblong, acute, moderately firm, green, simply toothed, glabrous 
on the upper surface, pubescent beneath; petioles pubescent, slightly glandular; stipules 
adnate, not laciniated, with small lanceolate free tips. Flowers many, in a corymb; 
peduncles long, pubescent, slightly setose ; bracts lanceolate. Calyx-tube oblong ; 
lobes ovate-lanceolate, tCf in- 1 ong, not glandular on the back, the outer slightly 
compound. Petals pure white, middle-sized. Styles pilose, united in a column which 
is distinctly protruded beyond the conical disc. Fruit small, globose, red, naked ; 
sepals reflexing, deciduous. 
Rosa moschata ranges in a wild state from Afghanistan to Kashmir, 
Simla, Garhwal, Kumaon and Nepal, at altitudes of from 3,000 to 
8,500 feet. It is quite hardy in southern England. According to 
Fraas, 1 it is one of the Roses known to Theophrastus. Turner 
mentions it in 1551 ; three forms are figured by Lobel in 1581 in his 
Plantarum sen Stirpium leones , vol. ii .—-ftore simplici, p. 207, moschata 
and moschata major , p. 208. Gerard had three forms of it in his garden 
in Holborn in 1 596. Parkinson 2 figures it under the name of “ Rosa 
hispanica moschata simplex,” and there is a specimen of it amongst 
Plukenet’s plants in the British Museum. It is curious that Linnaeus 
overlooked such a well-known plant, although he had two good speci- 
mens in his herbarium. The principal varieties are the plants known 
1 Synopsis Florae Classicae , p. 74 (1870). 2 Paradisus, p. 419 (1629). 
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