If I talk of wild roses, the English reader will fancy I mean the pale ephemeral blossoms of our bramble hedges; but the wild roses of Maryland and Virginia might be the choicest favourites of the flower garden.

They are rarely very double, but the brilliant eye atones for this.

They are of all shades, from the deepest crimson to the tenderest pink.

The scent is rich and delicate; in size they exceed any single roses I ever saw, often measuring above four inches in diameter.

The leaf greatly resembles that of the china rose; it is large, dark, firm, and brilliant.