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BioImages: The Virtual Field-Guide (UK)
Graham, G.G. & Primavesi, A.L., 1993
Roses of Great Britain and Ireland
"Problems Presented by the Genus: Reproduction and Hybridisation" describes the ease with which roses hybridise, and the unusual feature of most of our native species whereby 80% of the inheritable characters are determined by the seed parent. Consequently hybrids strongly resemble the seed parent. The next chapeter, "Morphology and General Characters" describes the growth forms, the types of prickle, leaves, glands, flowers and fruits. This is followed by "Ecology and Geographical Distribution".
Chapter6, "On Collecting and Pressing Roses", describes how to collect and preserve the parts neeed for an accurate identification.
The identification section kicks off with a Dichotomous Key to Native and Alien Species (and hybrids), followed by a second alternative Dichotomous Key to Native Species only.
The species descriptions are detailed and faced by clear line drawings of a stem portion with spines, infructescence with leaves, hip, hip LS, and detail of leaf surface and margin.
10km distribution maps are presented two to a page, but mainly show where the authors live! In any case these are now superceded by the later BSBI Atlas.
A map of vice counties is given at the end.
| Publisher |
Botanical Society of the British Isles (BSBI) |
| Volume |
No 7 |
| Pages |
208 |
| ISBN |
0 901158 22 4 |
| Coverage |
All the British species and hybrids known at the time, plus some of the more frequently naturalised aliens, although naturalised spp have not yet been studied in detail. |
| Illustrations |
Line drawings facing the species descriptions, plus a few more interspersed in text. |
| Identify |
With x8 or x10 hand lens. |
| Specimen Prep. |
Select a couple of fruiting sprays, with well developed hips, together with a piece of second year stem with one or two representative leaf sprays. The best time is from the last week in July till the end of September. Except for a few distinctive species, roses cannot be identified when in flower. |
| Difficulty |
Most areas of Britain only have a few spp of Rose, so the difficulty partly depends on where you live. In the south, where R. Caesia and its hybrids are absent, roses are mostly straightforward, but from the midlands north, they can be challenging. |
Malcolm Storey
Taxonomic Scope
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