1. QUEEN VICTORIA.

2. STANDARD OF MARENGO.

IT is an honour to have our first Number for the present year ornamented with portraits of "The Queen of Flowers," and more especially so, by one bearing the name of OUR BELOVED QUEEN VICTORIA, accompanied by that universally admitted "model form for all cupped Roses," THE STANDARD OF MARENGO.

"Allied by nature in your kind,

And differing but in hue,

You both possess intrinsic worth,
And outward beauty too."

It is related in Fable of the birth of the ROSE that Flora having found the corpse of a favourite nymph, whose beauty of person was only surpassed by the purity of her heart and chastity of mind, resolved to raise a plant from the precious remains of this daughter of the Dryads, for which purpose she begged the assistance of VENUS and the Graces, as well as all the deities that preside over gardens, to assist in the transformation of the nymph into a flower, that was to be by them proclaimed Queen of all the vegetable beauties. The ceremony was attended by the Zephyrs, who cleared the atmosphere, in order that Apollo might bless the new created progeny with his beams. Bacchus supplied rivers of "Nectar" to nourish it, and Vertumnus poured his choicest perfumes over the plant. When the change was complete, Pomona strewed her fruit over the young branches, which were then crowned by Flora with a diadem that had been purposely prepared by the celestials to distinguish the QUEEN OF FLOWERS.

Another mythological writer relates, that Rhodanthe, Queen of Corinth, to avoid the pursuit of her lovers, fled to the temple of Diana to conceal herself; but being besieged by lovers, and obliged to appear, VOL. XX. No. 61.-N.S.

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she called on the people for help, who, on beholding her beauty, threw down the statue of Diana, and declared her to be the goddess of the temple; upon which Apollo changed her into a Rose.

The Turks are great admirers of the Rose, and Musselmans, in general, believe that it first sprang from the perspiration of Mahomet, on which account they will not suffer a rose-leaf to lie on the ground, or permit any one to tread upon this sacred flower. Warriors crown themselves with garlands of Roses during their principal repast. Pliny tells us, that the delicate meats of the ancients were either covered with rose leaves, or their fragrant oil was sprinkled over. At a feast which Cleopatra gave to Antony, the royal apartments were covered with rose leaves to some depth. In Turkey a Rose is sculptured on the tomb of all ladies who die unmarried. Pope Julius the Second sent a consecrated Rose of Gold dipped in chrism, and perfumed with musk, to be presented by Archbishop Warham to King Henry the Eighth, at high mass, with the apostolical benediction. The king received the precious Rose, and still more precious benediction, with profound reverence and excessive joy. Mary, Queen of Scots, sent a magnificent rose-tree to Rosnard, the French poet of the sixteenth century, which was valued at two thousand crowns. Boyle relates, that at the baptism of Rosnard the following accident occurred :—

It was customary to bring large vases full of rose-water, and baskets of flowers to christenings; and as the nurse was going to the church with the infant poet she let her flowers fall, and in turning to recover them she touched the attendant who carried the vase of rose-water, and spilt it on the child; this was regarded as a happy presage of the good odour that would some day attend his poetry. Eastern poetry abounds in flowery allusions to the Rose. "You may place a hundred handfuls of fragrant herbs and flowers before the nightingale, yet he wishes not for more than the sweet breath of his beloved Rose."

"Oh! sooner shall the rose of May
Mistake her own sweet nightingale,

And to some meaner minstrel's lay

Open her bosom's glowing veil."—MOORE.

The island of RHODES (Greek, Rhodon, a Rose) took its name from the prodigious quantity of Roses with which it abounds.

Ludovica Verthema, who travelled in the east in the year 1503, observes, that he saw a great quantity of these flowers at Calicut, both red, white, and yellow; and Sir William Ouseley tells us, in his work on Persia, that when he entered the flower garden belonging to the governor of a castle near Fassa, he was overwhelmed with Roses. In Persia, wine and other liquors are brought to table with a Rose in the bottle, instead of a stopple or cork. Jackson says, that the Roses in the garden attached to the Emperor of Morocco's Palace are unequalled for quantity, and that mattrasses are made of their petals for persons of rank to recline upon. We read in Father Catron's "Historie of Mogul," "that the celebrated Princess Nourmahal caused an entire canal to be filled with rose-water, alongside of which she and the Great Mogul might walk, and the heat of the sun disengaging the

water from the essential oil of the Rose, this substance was remarked floating on the surface of the canal, and diffused a delightful perfume; and it was thus that the 'Otto of Roses' was first discovered."

In our own, as well as neighbouring nations, the Rose is held in high and yearly increasing estimation. It is deemed the "Emblem of Beauty;""The Pride of Flora ;" and to reign "Queen of the Flowers." It is also ENGLAND'S NATIONAL EMBLEM.

Poets of all nations have sung its praises, yet what poet has been able to do justice to a flower that is considered to be "the glory of the spring and summer," as well as "the ornament of the earth." They have celebrated its charms without exhausting its eulogiums, for its allurements increase upon a familiarity, and every fresh view presents new beauties, and gives additional delight. Hence it is said to renovate the imagination of the poet, and the very name of the flower gives harmony to his numbers, as its odours give sweetness to the air. As the Rose is the most common of all that compose the "Garland of Flora,” so it is deemed the most delightful. And to paint this universal emblem of delicate splendour in its own hues, the pencil should be dipped in the "tints of Aurora" when arising amidst her aerial glory. Venus herself finds a rival in the Rose, whose beauty is composed of all which is exquisite and graceful.

It has been made the symbol of sentiments as opposite as various. PIETY has seized it to decorate her temples, whilst LOVE expressed its tenderness by wreaths, and JOLLITY revelled adorned with crowns of Roses. GRIEF strews it on the tomb, and LUXURY spreads it on the couch. It is mingled with our tears, and spread in our gayest walks. In EPITAPH it expresses youthful modesty and charity. The beauty of the MORNING is allegorically represented by it, and AURORA is depictured strewing Roses before the chariot of Phoebus.

"When morning paints the eastern skies,

Her fingers burn with roseate dyes."

It is supposed to have given name to the HOLY LAND, where SOLOMON Sung its praise, as SYRIA appears to be derived from Suri, a delicate species of Rose, for which that beautiful country has always been famous, and hence called SURISTAN, THE LAND OF ROSES.

At what time the Rose was introduced into the gardens of our own country is uncertain. Chaucer wrote upon it being there five hundred years ago. It is evident, too, that the principal gardens of the kingdom, "in the early days," were attached to PRIORIES and other religious edifices, and from the luxurious manner in which the ROMANS lived in this country for many ages previous to the " year 400," and from their habit of wearing wreaths of Roses at their banquets, it is more than probable that their gardens contained collections of these beautiful flowers.

During the last twenty-five years there has been much attention paid to raising Seedling Roses, particularly in France, where the climate is very suitable for the process. Great indeed has been the success. Flowers of much more decided colours have been raised, some of which are intensely brilliant and showy. In size, too, much has been achieved.

And by the process of impregnating the flowers of various classes new sections have been formed of the productions, and now we can have, in the open air of our own country, Roses in bloom nearly all the year. The classes which bloom so freely during the latter part of summer and autumn are a most valuable acquisition. Another essential to be realized has been to obtain a perfect standard of form, one in each section of Roses, suited to its blossoms, and in this particular much has been effected.

The two new varieties we now figure are of the PERPETUAL CLASS, but apparently they are hybrids of distinct sections. They are of firstrate excellence, and ought to have a place in every collection, even in every garden.

1. PAUL'S QUEEN VICTORIA ROSE is a Seedling from the much admired "LA REINE," of which it is so exact a copy in every respect, saye colour, that it has been designated by some the "WHITE LA REINE." The ground colour is white, overlaid with the most delicate hue of pink, and of a wax-like appearance. It is very distinct from any other Rose. Specimens of its flowers have been shown at the Floral Society's meetings in London during the past season, and from an half blown flower our artist has drawn the one we figure. The full blown flower is of good size, and will prove a charming companion to the higher coloured ones.

Mr. William Paul, Nurseryman, of Cheshunt, Herts, obtained this beautiful variety in the neighbourhood of Paris, and is now, for the first time, offering plants for sale.

2. STANDARD OF MARENGO ROSE is also an Hybrid Perpetual. It has been generally understood to have been a seedling from the splendid "Geant des Batailles." Some persons, however, suppose it to be raised from "Duc d'Aumale Rose." It was first sent out by Messrs. Guillot, of Lyons, in France, who also sent out the Geant des Batailles, but the present one much surpasses even that fine variety. It is superbly brilliant, fine form, petals stiff, and of thick substance, and yery fragrant. It is the most splendid autumnal Rose in this country, and of unequalled shape.

NOTES ON NEW OR RARE PLANTS.

ABELIA UNIFLORA.-Mr. Fortune sent plants of this species to Messrs. Standish and Noble from China. It is a small erect shrub, of the natural order of Honeysuckles (Caprifoils), the flowers, as the name denotes, are produced single, in the axils of the upper leaves, each one about one inch long, and three-quarters of an inch across the mouth, white, with a slight stain of violet. Messrs. Standish and Noble consider it hardy. (Paxton's Flower Garden.)

ACER CIRCINATUM.-A most beautiful species of the Maple tribe, introduced from Oregon, by the Horticultural Society, perfectly hardy, growing from twelve to twenty feet high. When the leaves unfold in spring they are of a beautiful transparent green (but they are preceded by long leaf scales of a crimson colour), and the flowers at the same

time push out in tufts, white and purple. In the autumn the leaves > turn to a deep crimson-red, which gives the tree a splendid appearance. It is an admirable tree for a pleasure ground, and viewed from the dwelling-house would have a fine effect. The wood is remarkably, tough, and the smaller branches are used by the natives in making the hoops, &c., for their "scoop-nets," which are used for taking salmon in the Rapids, &c. (Paxton's Flower Garden.)

ACER VILLOSUM.-Introduced by Messrs. Osborne and Son, of Fulham, from the Himalayan Mountains of India. It is a fine tree, somewhat resembling the Sycamore, but the leaves are larger, thicker, and of a deeper green; in the autumn they die off a nankeen colour. The flowers are fragrant. It is considered one of the finest deciduous, trees that has been introduced for many years. (Paxton's Flower, Garden).

AERIDES SUAVISSIMUM.--A delicate species of orchid, with fleshypink coloured flowers, each one about an inch and a half across, at the extremity of each of the sepals and petals is a spot of rose. The lip is pale yellow, tipped with pink. The raceme about a foot in length. It, produces a most delicious fragrance. The plant flowered with Messrs. Loddiges, of Hackney, in June, 1849, who received it from the Straits of Malacca. (Figured in Paxton's Flower Garden, plate 66.) ESCHYNANTHUS SPLENDIDUS.-An hybrid raised by Messrs. Lucombe, Pince, and Co., of Exeter. The flowers are three to four inches long, tube-shaped, of a bright orange below, and a vermilion above. They are produced in clusters of twelve to fifteen in each. (Figured in Mag. Bot.)

BEGONIA (DIPLOCLINIUM) SEMPERFLORENS.-A native of Brazil. The flowers are white, about an inch across, of no very great beauty, but it continues in flower for a considerable time, winter and spring, which makes it a very desirable plant. It grows about two feet high, and blooms freely. (Paxton's Flower Garden.)

BROMELIA LONGIFOLIA.-A native of Guiana, a stove plant, in Mr. Henderson's collection at Wellington Road Nursery. The flowers are produced in a large head-like rich rose-coloured cone, near six inches long, and almost as broad. It is one of the finest of the race. (Figured in Paxton's Flower Garden.)

CARRAGANA TRIFLORA.-From Nepal, and it inhabits the high Himalaya Mountains, similar to the Whin in our own country. It is a hardy half-evergreen shrub, the flowers are of the pea formed shape," yellow, borne in umbels of three together. It is in the garden of the Horticultural Society at Chiswick. (Paxton's Flower Garden.)

CEDRONELLA CANA.-A half shrubby hardy herbaceous plant from New Mexico, somewhat, Ilke the Stachys tribe. The flower stems grow two to three feet high, having long spikes of rosy-red blossoms, which are produced in numerous whorls: Each tubular flower is nearly two inches long, and from ten to twelve blossoms are in each whorl. The plant has many spikes of its blossoms, and blooms freely during the whole of summer, making a handsome appearance. It is a neat