44— ROSA MICROPHYLLA Roxb. 
Rosa microphylla : caulibus erectis, glabris, glauco-purpureis; aculeis omnibus 
geminis stipularibus, ascendentibus, modice robustis; foliolis 11-15, oblongis, parvis, 
firmis, simpliciter serratis, utrinque glabris, vel dorso parce pubescentibus ; rhachi 
glabra vel pubescente ; stipulis parvis, angustis, longe adnatis, apice libero minuto ; 
floribus saepe solitariis ; pedunculo brevi, ntido vel aciculato ; calycis tubo globoso, 
dense aciculato ; sepalis ovatis, simplicibus, conspicue dentatis ; petalis albis vel 
rubris ; stylis liberis, inclusis, dense villosis ; fructu magno, edibili, globoso, viridi, 
dense aculeato, cortice crasso, sepalis conniventibus persistentibus coronato. 
R. microphylla Roxburgh ex Lindley ,Ros. Monogr. p. 9, No. 6 (1820); Bot. Reg . 
vol. xi. t. 919(1825).— Roxburgh, Ft Ind. ed. 2, vol. ii. p. 515 (1832). — Crdpin in Bull. 
Soc. Bot. Belg. vol. xiv. pt. 2, p. 146 ( Priniit . Monogr. Ros. fasc. iii. p. 350) (1875). — 
Hooker f, FI. Brit. Ind. vol. ii. p. 364 (1879) ; in Bot. Mag. vol. cvii. t. 6548 (single 
form) (1881). — Koehne, Deutsche Dendrol. p. 301 (1893). — Rehder in Bailey, Cycl. 
Am. Hort. vol. iv. p. 1588 (1902).— C. K. Schneider, III. Handbuch Laubholzk. vol. i. 
p. 588(1906). 
R. Roxburghii Trattinnick, Ros. Monogr. vol. ii. p. 233 (1823). 
Stems erect, glabrous, glaucous-purple; prickles mostly in stipulary pairs, 
large, rather ascending, generally without intermediate aciculi. Leaflets 1 1-15, small, 
oblong, obtuse or sub-acute, simply serrated, green and glabrous on the upper sur- 
face, glabrous or pubescent beneath ; petioles glabrous or slightly pubescent; stipules 
very narrow, adnate, with small free tips. Flowers few or solitary; peduncles short, 
hispid. Calyx-tube globose, rugose, densely aciculate ; lobes small, ovate, hispid 
on the back, deeply toothed. Petals pink or white, middle-sized. Styles free, 
included, densely hairy. Fruit depresso-globose, green, umbilicate at the base, 
large, edible, with a very thick skin, with only a few sessile basal carpels with a 
tuft of hair at the apex. 
Rosa microphylla is a very distinct species, clearly marked by its 
large, densely prickly, green, crab-apple-like fruit, crowned by the cori- 
aceous, deeply toothed calyx-lobes. It is a native of Japan and of 
central, western and northern China, where it grows in the warm river 
valleys and never ascends above altitudes of 4,000 feet. 
The first published description of this Rose appeared in Lindley’s 
Monograph, his attention having been called to it through seeing a 
collection of Chinese drawings in the possession of Sir H. Colebrook, 
amongst which occurred a figure of this plant in its double form. It 
was found to exist in the Calcutta Botanic Garden, having been procured 
i35 
