[1888] See B. iv. c. 14. According to J. Bauhin, this is the pale, flesh-coloured rose, called the “rose of France,”—the “Rosa rubello flore, majore, pleno, incarnata vulgo.” Others, again, take it to be the Damascus rose.
[1889] See B. v. c. 29. A variety of the white rose, Fée thinks, the determination of which must be sought among the Eglantines.
[1890] “Spiniola.” A variety belonging to or approaching the Eglantine in all probability. Fée makes mention here of a kind called the Rosa myriacantha by Decandolle (the “thousand-thorn rose”), which is found in great abundance in the south of Europe, and other parts of it.
[1891] Fée remarks on this passage, that the beauty of the flower and the number of the petals are always in an inverse proportion to the number of thorns, which disappear successively the more carefully the plant is cultivated.
[1892] This is most probably the meaning of “Asperitate, levore.”
[1893] Still known as the “Rosa centifolia.” Its petals sometimes exceed three hundred in number; and it is the most esteemed of all for its fragrant smell.
[1894] “Non suæ terræ proventu.”
[1895] This rose is mentioned also by Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. B. vi. c. 6. From the description that Pliny gives of it, Fée is inclined to think that it is some variety of the Rosa rubrifolia, which is often found in mountainous localities.
[1896] This assertion is borrowed from Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. B. vi. c. 6. Fée remarks that there is no truth in it. It is not improbable, however, that the word “cortex” here may mean, not the calyx, but the bark of the stem, in reference to its exemption from thorns. The τραχὺ τὸ κάτω of Theophrastus would seem to admit of that rendering. See Note [1891] above.
[1897] “Extremas velut ad cardines.”