'Rosa humilis var. triloba S. Watson' rose photos

Garden and Forest (Feb 13, 1889) Rosa humilis,* var. triloba. ROSA HUMILIS, Marshall, Arbust. Amer., 136. R. lucida of Gray's Manual, Wood. etc., in part. THIS pretty freak of our common low Wild Rose was detected by Miss Jennie K Whitesides, of Harmonsburg, Pennsylvania. in 1881, growing upon a sandy bank near that place, whence it was transferred to her garden. Since June, 1886, it has been in cultivation at the Botanic Garden at Cambridge, where it has for three years perpetuated the abnormal character of its petals. Aside from the interest which attaches to it on this account, the figure is also of value as illustrating very clearly the characters which distinguish Rosa humilis from other eastern species. The slender habit, the open foliation, the very slender, straight spines, the narrow stipules, and the nearly constant and often free toothing of the outer sepals, are characteristic of this species. In this form it is found in the dry, sandy or rocky localities which it prefers, from New England to the Mississippi and southward to the Gulf States. As in all the species of the group, the pedicels, hip and calyx-lobes are more or less glandular-hispid. And like every other Rose, it is subject to variation. When growing in wetter localities it may be somewhat stouter in habit, the spines thicker at base, the stipules more foliaceous, and, ot course, there may be found anywhere specimens or young shoots with enough of scattered prickles. But it never takes on the taller, stout and bushy growth, and the broadbased, recurved spines of the northern R. lucida, nor the peculiar foliage and densely prickly covering throughout of the R. nitida of New England swamps. S. W. [Rosa humilis, next to Rosa Caroliniana, is the most common Rose in the elevated mountain region of Virginia, eastern Tennessee and Carolina. Here, unlike our other Roses, which frequent open situations, it is found growing only in the shade of the forest, generally on steep slopes, and usually in very rich soil. As it appears growing in such situations it is one of the most distinct of all the American Roses, with its very slender stems, sparse, open foliage, and few long, slender spines. C. S. S.]