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ROSE (Rosa)
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See also:ROSE (See also:Rosa) . The rose has for all ages been the favourite See also:flower, and as such it has a See also:place in See also:general literature that no other plant can See also:rival. In most cases the rose of the poets and the rose of the botanist are one and the same in See also:kind, but popular usage has attached the name rose to a variety of See also:plants whose kinship to the true plant no botanist would for a moment admit. In this place we shall employ the word in its strict botanical significance, and in commenting on it treat it solely from the botanical point of view. The rose gives its name to the See also:order See also:Rosaceae, of which it may be considered the type. The genus consists of See also:species varying in number, according to the diverse opinions of botanists of opposite See also:schools, from See also:thirty to one See also:hundred and eighty, or even two hundred and fifty, exclusive of the many hundreds of See also:mere See also:garden varieties. While the lowest estimate is doubtless too See also:low, the highest is enormously too large, but in any See also:case the wide discrepancies above alluded to illustrate very forcibly the extreme variability of the plants, their adaptability to various conditions, and consequently their wide See also:dispersion over the globe, the facility with which they are cultivated, and the readiness with' which new varieties are continually being produced in gardens by the See also:art of the hybridizer or the careful selection of the raiser. The species are natives of all parts of the See also:northern hemisphere, but are scantily represented in the tropics unless at considerable elevations. They are erect or climbing shrubs, never herbs or trees, generally more or less copiously provided with straight or hooked prickles of various shapes and with glandular hairs, as in the sweet-brier or in the See also:moss-rose of gardens. The prickles serve the purpose of enabling the See also:shrub to sustain itself amid other vegetation. The viscid hairs which are specially frequent on the flower stalks or in the neighbourhood of the flower serve to See also:arrest the progress of undesirable visitants, while the perfume emitted by the glands in question may co-operate with the fragrance and See also:colour of the flower to attract those See also:insects whose presence is desirable. The leaves are invariably alternate, provided with stipules, and unequally pinnate, the leaflets varying in number from one (as in R. simplicifolia or berberi folia) to 11 and even 15, the See also:odd leaflet always being at the See also:apex, the others in pairs. The See also:flowers are solitary or in loose cymes (cluster-See also:roses) produced on the ends of the shoots. The flower-stalk expands into a See also:vase- or See also:urn-shaped See also:dilatation, called the receptacle or receptacular See also:tube, which ultimately becomes fleshy and encloses in its cavity the numerous carpels or fruits. From the edge of the urn or " See also:hip " proceed five sepals, often more or less See also:compound like the leaves and overlapping in the bud. Within the sepals are five petals, generally broad or roundish in out-See also:line, with a very See also:short stalk or none at all, and of very various shades of See also: By repeated radial and tangential branching a vast number of stamens are ultimately produced, and when these stamens assume a petaloid aspect we have as a consequence the See also:double flowers which are so much admired. The carpels are much less subject to this petaloid See also:change, and, as it generally happens in the most double of roses that some few at least of the anthers are formed with See also:pollen, the See also:production of seed and the possibility of See also:cross-breeding become intelligible. Under natural circumstances rose flowers do not secrete See also:honey, the attraction for insects being provided by the colour and perfume and the abundance of pollen for See also:food. The stigmas and anthers come to maturity at the same See also:time, and thus, while cross-fertilization by See also:insect agency is doubtless most See also:common, self-fertilization is not prevented. The large number of species, subspecies, varieties and forms described as See also:British may be included under about a dozen species. Among them may be mentioned R. spinosissima, the Scotch rose, much less variable than the others; R. rubiginosa (or R. eglanteria), the sweet-brier, represented by several varieties; R. See also:canina, the See also:dog rose (see fig.), including Dog Rose (Rosa canina) in flower and fruit. numerous subspecies and varieties; the large-fruited See also:apple rose, R. pomifera; and R. arvensis, the See also:parent of the See also:Ayrshire roses. Cultivated roses are frequently " budded " or worked upon the stems of the brier or R. canina, or upon See also:young seedling plants of the same species; and upon stems of an See also:Italian rose called the Manetti, raised in the See also:Milan Botanic Gardens about 1837. Other species, notably R. polyantha, also are used for See also:stocks. Roses have been grown for so many centuries and have been crossed and recrossed so often that it is difficult to refer the cultivated forms to their See also:wild prototypes. The older roses doubtless originated from R. gallica, a native of central and See also:southern See also:Europe. R. centifolia (the See also:cabbage rose), a native of the See also:Caucasus, contributed its See also:share. A cross between the two species named may have been the source whence originated the See also:Bourbon roses. The yellow-flowered See also:Austrian and See also:Persian brier originated from R. lutea, a native of See also:Austria and the See also:East. The monthly or See also:China roses sprang from the See also:Chinese R. indica, and these, crossed with others of the R. centifolia or gallica type, are the source of the " hybrid perpetuals " so commonly grown nowadays, because, in addition to their other attractions, their blooming See also:season is relatively prolonged, and, moreover, is repeated in the autumn. See also:Tea roses and noisettes, it is to be presumed, also acknowledge R. indica as one of their See also:pro-genitors. A magnificent See also:race called " hybrid teas " have been evolved of See also:late years, by See also:crossing the tea roses and hybrid perpetuals. They are much more vigorous in constitution than the true tea roses, while quite as beautiful in blossom and more perpetual in See also:bloom than the hybrid perpetuals. Recently, by crossing the See also:Japanese R. Wichuraiana with hybrid perpetuals,a beautiful and vigorous race of climbers has been produced. The Banksian rose is a Chinese climbing species, with small white or fawn-coloured flowers of See also:great beauty, but rarely seen; the See also:Macartney rose (R. bracteata) is also of Chinese origin. Its nearly See also:evergreen deep See also:green leaves and large white flowers art very striking. The Japanese R. rugosa is also a remarkable species, notable for its bold rugose foliage, its large white or See also:pink flowers, and its conspicuous globular fruit. R. damascena is cultivated in some parts of the Balkans for the purpose of making See also:attar of roses. In See also:Germany the same variety of rose is used, while at See also:Grasse a See also:strain of the See also:Provence rose is cultivated for the same purpose. In See also:India R. damascene is grown largely near See also:Ghazipur for the purpose of procuring attar of roses and rose See also:water. Rose water is chiefly produced in Europe from the Provence or cabbage rose, R. centifolia, grown for the purpose at See also:Mitcham and much more abundantly in the See also:south of See also:France. Conserve of roses and infusion of roses, two medicinal preparations retained for their agreeable qualities rather than for any See also:special virtue, are prepared from the petals of R. gallica, one variety of which was formerly grown for the purpose near the See also:town of See also:Provins. Conserve of dog rose is made from the ripe hips of the dog rose, R. canina. Its only use is in the manufacture of pills. The rose is so universal a favourite that some portion of the garden must necessarily be devoted to it, if the situation be at all favourable. Many choice roses will not, however, thrive in the vicinity of large towns, since they require a pure See also:air, and do not endure a smoky See also:atmosphere. The best See also:soil for them is a deep See also:rich strong See also:loam See also:free from stagnant moisture. Very See also:light sandy or gravelly soils, or soils which are clayey and badly drained, are not suitable, and both must be greatly improved if rose-growing on them is attempted. Light soils would be improved by a dressing of strong loam in See also:conjunction with cow-dung or nightsoil; the latter, provided it is properly prepared and not too fresh, is indeed the very best manure for roses in all but soils which are naturally very rich. Heavy soils are improved by adding burned See also:earth or gritty refuse,- with See also:stable manure and See also:leaf-See also:mould, See also:peat moss See also:litter, &c.; and See also:damp soils must necessarily be drained by trenching. Tea roses may, however, be grown to perfection in a See also:gravel soil, provided it be well manured, cow manure being best. Roses generally require a See also:constant See also:annual See also:supply of manure, and, if this is given as a mulching in autumn, it serves to protect their roots through the See also:winter. They also require liberal supplies of water during the growing season, unless the See also:surface is mulched or See also:top-dressed from time to time with well-rotted manure. See also:Aphides and caterpillars of all kinds may be checked by syringing with dilute See also:tobacco water or some of the many insecticides now provided to facilitate this rather troublesome task. Some growers prefer roses grown on their own roots, some on the Manetti and others on the brier stock. There is this to be said in favour of their own roots that, if the tops are killed down by See also:accident or by severe See also:weather, the roots will usually throw up new shoots true to their kind, which cannot be looked for if they are worked; though it is sometimes recommended to plant deep in order that the rose itself may learn to do without its See also:foster parent the stock. Too often, however, in the case of persons unfamiliar with roses, the choice rose See also:dies, and the stock usurps its place. This is especially true of the Manetti stock, as its foliage is more like that of many cultivated forms than the brier, and therefore more easily overlooked. Where See also:standards or See also:half-standards are required, the brier stock from the hedges is always used. It forms the most reliable stock for dwarfs of all kinds, and especially for tea roses, most of which fail on the Manetti stock. An open situation, not shaded but sheltered from strong winds, is what the rose prefers. See also:October and See also:November are the best months for planting roses, but if the weather be wet or frosty and the soil sticky, the plants should be placed in a sheltered place and protected by green boughs or See also:matting until suitable conditions prevail. The planting should never be deep, the uppermost layer of roots being about 2 or 3 in. below the general level of the surface, and the soil should always be kept stirred with the See also:hoe during the summer months. In regard to pruning, roses vary considerably, some requiring See also:close cutting and others only thinning out; some again, such as strong growing climbers, may be safely pruned in autumn, and others are better See also:left till spring. Instructions on this point as to the several See also:groups of varieties will be found in most rose catalogues, and may be followed, provided the variety is true to name. It may be laid down as a general rule that the more strongly growing varieties should be less severely cut back than the weakly varieties; and, again, the more See also:tender the variety, the later in the spring snould the pruning be done, See also:April being the best See also:month for pruning teas and noisettes. It should be remembered also that no amount of correct pruning will improve a rose See also:bush that has been badly planted or placed in .a quite unsuitable position. Where See also:dwarf beds of roses are required, a See also:good See also:plan is to peg down to within about 6 in. from the ground the strong one-See also:year-old shoots from the See also:root. In due time blooming shoots break out from nearly every See also:eye, and masses of flowers are secured, while strong young shoots are thrown up from the centre, the plant being on its own roots. Before winter sets in, the old shoots which have thus flowered and exhausted themselves are cut away, and three or four or more of the strongest and best ripened young shoots are reserved for pegging down the following season, which should be done about See also:February. In the meantime, after the pruning has been effected, plenty of good manure should have been dug in lightly about the roots. Thus treated, the plants never fail to produce plenty of strong See also:wood for pegging down each succeeding season. The most troublesome fungoid pest of the rose is undoubtedly the See also:mildew (Sphaerotheca pannosa). The young shoots, leaves and flower-buds frequently become covered with a delicate white mycelium, which by means of the suckers it sends into the under-lying cells robs its See also:host of considerable amounts of food, and causes the leaves to curl and fall See also:early. The spores are produced in great abundance and carried by animals and the See also:wind to other plants, and so the disease is rapidly spread. Later the mycelium increases and forms a thick velvety coating on the young shoots, and in this the winter See also:state of the fungus is produced. Spraying with See also:potassium sulphide (i oz. to 2 to 3 gallons of water) is the best means of checking the spread of the disease. The rose See also:rust (Phragmidium subcorticatum) appears on both cultivated and wild roses in the spring, bursting through the bark in the See also:form of copious masses of See also:orange See also:powder consisting of the spores of the fungus. These spores infect the leaves, and produce on them in the summer small dots of an orange colour and, later, groups of spores that are able to live through the winter. The last, the teleutospores, are of a dark colour, and it is by these that the disease is started in the spring. It is therefore important that all the affected leaves should be destroyed in the autumn, and the bushes should be sprayed with See also:Bordeaux mixture or ammoniacal See also:copper carbonate in the spring to prevent the infection of the leaves by spores brought from a distance. Many other See also:fungi attack the rose, but perhaps the only other one.that merits mention here is Actinonema Rosae. This attacks the leaves, forming large dark blotches upon them and frequently causing them to fall prematurely. A very large number of insect pests are found upon the rose, but the best known and most formidable on See also:account of their great See also:powers of See also:reproduction are the aphides. More than one species is found upon the rose, though Aphis Rosae is the commonest. Their attack should be checked by the use of a spray made by boiling 4 oz. See also:quassia chips for an See also:hour or so in a See also:gallon of soft water, straining off the See also:solution and dissolving therein 4 oz. of soft See also:soap while it is still warm, afterwards adding i or 2 gallons of soft water according to the See also:age of the rose leaves that are to be sprayed. Any delay in dealing with the pest gives the opportunity for its increase, even a See also:day being sufficient materially to See also:augment their See also:numbers. The larvae of some of the Tortrix moths See also:fold the leaves almost as soon as they are See also:developed from the bud, and do considerable damage in this way and by devouring the leaves, while several " looper " caterpillars are also found feeding on the foliage. Many species of saw-See also:fly larvae are also known to attack the rose, feeding either upon the leaves or devouring the young shoot. These larvae should be carefully searched for and destroyed whenever found. One of the leaf-cutting bees, Megachile, cuts pieces out of the leaves with which to line its See also:nest, materially reducing their effective surface. The bees may be caught in a butterfly See also:net or traced to their nests, which should be destroyed. For further See also:information see the late See also:Dean Hole's See also:Book about Roses (1894); Book of the Rose, by Rev. A. Foster Mellias (1905); Beautiful Roses for Garden and Greenhouse, by J. Weathers (1903) ; and Roses, their See also:History, Development and Cultivation, by the Rev. J. H. Pemberton (1908). Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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