THE ROSE, ROSA, _Gul_ or _gulab_: as the most universally admired,
stands first amongst shrubs. The London catalogues of this beautiful
plant contain upwards of two thousand names: Mr. Loudon, in his
"_Encyclopaedia of Plants_" enumerates five hundred and twenty-two, of
which he describes three species, viz. Macrophylla, Brunonii, and
Moschata Nepalensis, as natives of Nepal; two, viz. Involucrata, and
Microphylla, as indigenous to India, and Berberifolia, and Moschata
arborea, as of Persian origin, whilst twelve appear to have come from
China. Dr. Roxburgh describes the following eleven species as
inhabitants of these regions:--
Rosa involucrata,
-- Chinensis,
-- semperflorens,
-- recurva,
-- microphylla,
-- inermis,
Rosa centiflora,
-- glandulifera,
-- pubescens,
-- diffusa,
-- triphylla,
most of which, however, he represents to have been of Chinese origin.
The varieties cultivated generally in gardens are, however, all that
will be here described.