Evening star., 1942-06-28
Several Species
Have Given Us
Modern Roses
Broad TracingS of
Origin Is Caused
By Bad Records

Several species of roses have been
combined in many ways to develop
the modern rose as we know it to-
day. Because of the long period
through which this development
took place and the meagerness Of
printed record, the origins can be
traced only in a broad way. 1t is
clear that certain species influenced
the trend which this development
took
The French rose, Rosa gallica, Is
a native Of Europe and might be
said to have formed the backbone
of the early rose development. 1t
is noted for its brightness of color
(there is a strong tendency toward
striped, notified and spotted flow
ers), hardness and long life. 1t is
a June bloomer. The apothecary's
rose is a typical form.
The cabbage rose, Rosa centrifolia,
often called the hundred-leaved
rose, IS another old rose blooming
III Will lSllC IL a
GRANGE. The color of the flowers is
predomjnantly pink. although it
ranges from white to deep, velvety
purple.
The moss rose is essentially an
offshoot from the cabbage rose, al
though the famous crested moss
probably had a different origin.
They are distinguished by the mos
siness" of calyx, stem and some
times leaves
The damask rose. Rosa damascena,
is supposed to have been introduced
into France from near Damascus.
This type is of especial importance,
since it was the forerunner of the
damask perpetual, hybrid perpetuals
and finally the hybrid teas. A
remontant variety is the source of
the recurrent bloom found in some
of the hybrid perpetuals. The
damask roses are noted for their
delicious fragrance. One of the
most famous of these roses is the
York and Lancaster. with small
flowers of pale pink, white, or part
pink and part white. All these
color forms may occur on the bush
at the same time. The rose often
sold in this country as York and
Lancaster is variegated rose with
deep pink color. 1t is Rosa mundi,
which belongs properly in the
French group, Rosa gallica.
Another fashioned rose native
to Europe is Rosa alba. While 1t has
not influenced rose development as
much as some other forms, it has
some desirable characters which
could we'll be bred into our modern
roses. 1t is a strong growing type
with grayish-green stems which
flourishes under conditions that
would be disastrous to many other
forms.
The brier roses have had an i'm
portant place in the rose gardens
of the past, but have changed little
in this time. Persian yellow and
Harrison yellow are perhaps the best
known types. although both white
and pink forms were grown. They
do well in poor soil and resent much
pruning.
The climbing musk roses gave
rise to the interesting group OF roses
known as the noisettes, but these
have been largely superseded by the
rambler types. The Marechal Mel
is one of the most famous Of this
group.
The boursalt, sempervirens and
ayrshire were climbing roses OF less
Importance. The multif1ora roses,
however, giving rise to the rambler
and polyanthea types, have influ-
enced greatly the modern develop
ment.
The introduction of the china
roses had a most profound influence
on the modern rose, giving 1t strong
recurrent blooming habit. The tea
rose. Rosa adorata, beautiful In itself,
gave rise to the hybrid tea rose
through crossing into the hybrld
perpetuals. The tea rose has a de-
lightful and characteristic fra
GRANGE. Another china rose, Rosa
indica. while nearly everbloomlng,
has a rather faint fragrance as
compared with the tea rose.
The hybrid bourbon and the we'll
known microphylla rose were we'll
and favorably known in the gardens
of old. Other roses in modern times
have contributed to the making OF
rose history. but these which have
been briefly described laid the main
foundation for the rose world.