Rosa moschata Mill.
Rosa moschata Mill. is the herbalist’s rose, described consistently from John Gerard (1597) to Redouté (1817-1824) as an autumn-flowering rose. Nurserymen of the time listed it for its autumn-flowering characteristics. Most notable for us is Thomas Rivers, who, in an article in The Gardeners’ Chronicle of 1843, included it in his autumnal garden. It is a vigorous climber, reaching to 10m or more, with loose clusters of musk-scented, usually single, pure white flowers, displaying yellow stamens, from mid to late summer into autumn. The flowers are followed by small, orange-red hips. [Rivers (1854, 1857, 1863), Gore, Willmot, Paul (1848, 1888)].
Horticultural & Botanical History
The origin of Rosa moschata is uncertain. Graham Thomas, in his book Climbing Roses Old and New, devotes an entire chapter to Rosa moschata, entitled The Mystery of the Musk Rose: ‘Let me make it clear that we are concerned in this mystery with no less than three distinct roses - one for Shakespeare, one for the herbalists, and one for the botanic gardens.’ The musk rose of Shakespeare and John Keats is relatively simple (see notes on Rosa arvensis Willd. var. flore pleno), but ‘I doubt if we shall ever know just where and how the other two originated’. Thomas provides strong evidence that the rose now commonly sold as Rosa moschata in England, and possibly Australia, is a hybrid or cultivar of Rosa brunonii. He succeeded in tracing a specimen of the autumn-flowering ‘herbalists’ musk rose and found it identical to the descriptions given in the older books and, most importantly, to Redouté‘s painting.
History at Camden Park
Listed in all published catalogues and described as a musk cluster rose in the 1843 and 1845 catalogues [T.852/1843].
Notes
Published Feb 10, 2010 - 05:31 PM | Last updated Jul 30, 2010 - 05:44 PM
| Family | Rosaceae |
|---|---|
| Category | |
| Region of origin | Probably Europe |
| Synonyms |
|
| Common Name | |
| Name in the Camden Park Record |
Rosa moschata |
| Confidence level | high |