The DOG-ROSE (_Rosa canina_). This is one of the commonest of our numerous species of English wild rose--a family which, like the brambles, willows, and others, has by some botanists been cut up into several species from more or less obvious botanical marks, frequently of a nature, however, which subjects them to be by other observers considered as mere variations depending upon chance external influences; thus, while one writer reduces the various rose forms to five specific types, another, of equally high standing, mentions nineteen species as occurring in Britain. This refinement of scientific observation will, however, be of no real service to the designer: for his purpose the dog-rose, the most familiar of our English species, may be accepted as a fairly typical flower. The garden varieties of roses are derived from the _Rosa sempervirens_ of Southern Europe, the _R. Indica_, an Asiatic species, and many others. The sweet-briar, _R. rubiginosa_, one of our wild English species, is also a favourite in many gardens from the fragrance of its leaves when pressed in the hand. The
word rose is derived, according to some authors, from the Celtic _rhos_, which is in turn derived from the adjective _rhodd_, red; while others affirm that it descends to us from the Latin _rosa_, itself deduced from the Greek _rodon_, derived from _erythros_, red; but we are unable to give any satisfactory clue to the meaning of the prefix “dog” in the familiar English name, the same idea being also evidently expressed in the specific word _canina_, in the French _rose de chien_, and the German _Hundrose_. Some writers, however, imagine it to refer to the uselessness of the plant, and quote the scentless or dog-violet as another illustration in support of their theory. Even on the lowest utilitarian ground this theory is scarcely tenable, since the plant is largely used by gardeners as a stock for grafting, while the fruit is also considerably employed in medicine. The rose, though commonly met with in ornament throughout the whole of the Decorated and Perpendicular periods of Gothic, is more especially found in the latter, since it was then employed not merely on its own merits, but also as the badge of the Tudors; hence, as an heraldic form, we frequently meet with it in secular no less than in ecclesiastical work. It is also, we need scarcely say, the badge of England, as the shamrock and thistle are of Ireland and Scotland respectively. It was also the personal badge of Edward I., and the family device of the De la Warres. Examples of the heraldic use of the rose are very numerous; it may merely suffice to mention Hampton Court and Henry VII.’s Chapel at Westminster as abounding in illustrations. In the church at Hawton, Nottinghamshire, in a sculptured representation of the Resurrection, there is as a background a very elaborate and beautiful diaper of the rose--its leaves, flowers, and buds being all employed; this, as the Rose of Sharon, may be considered as introduced in a symbolic sense, though we must here mention that the plant ordinarily known as the Rose of Sharon is not a true rose at all botanically. It is one of the Hypericums. A golden rose has from time to time been given by the popes to those whom they more especially desired to reward for services rendered to the Church: Henry VIII. of England received, together with his title “Defender of the Faith,” this mark of honour from Pope Alexander VI. The dog-rose will be found in flower in early summer, the colour of the blossoms varying on different shrubs from pure white to a deep pink; the brilliant scarlet fruit, an equally ornamental feature, being met with as the season advances. Illustrations of the natural growth of the plant will be seen in M. B. 139, S. C. 100, P. F. 7, 90, 96; and T. N. O. 51.