Paxton's magazine of botany, and register of flowering plants (1843)

GENERIC CHARACTER—Calyx with the tube contracted at the mouth, and with a five-parted limb; the segments somewhat spirally imbricated at the apex in aestivation, and usually pinnately divided. Petals five. Stamens numerous. Carpels numerous, bony, inserted on the inside of the tube of the calyx, which at length becomes baccate and encloses them; they are dry and indehiscent, bearing each a style on the inner side. Styles exerted from the constricted part of the calycine tube; sometimes distinct, sometimes connected into a columnar style. Seeds solitary, exalbuminous, inverted. Embryo straight, with flattish cotyledons.—Don's Gard. and Bot.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER.—Plant a hybrid, with a great deal of the habit of R. berberifolia, but much larger, deeper yellow, and handsomer flowers.

THE showy and interesting Rosa berberifolia, which botanists have now formed into a new genus, under the name of Lowea, has been known for several years in this country, but has never yet become common, in consequence of the great apparent difficulty attending its cultivation. The present plant is a hybrid raised between that species and R. involucrata by Mr. Hardy, gardener at the Luxembourg Gardens, Paris, and it has been named after its originator.

We had it drawn, three or four years back, from the gardens of Mr. Halley, nurseryman, of Blackheath, who then flowered it in considerable perfection during the summer season. It is much superior to R. berberifolia, and is decidedly a very ornamental Rose, on account of its large and deep yellow or pale orange-coloured flowers, which have a rich brownish or dark sanguine blotch at the base of each petal. Its pleasing foliage is likewise a recommendation, being in itself pretty, and so different from that of other Roses.

It is one of those delicate-rooted things which require some care in their management; though the chief difficulties are overcome when the soil is rendered of a proper nature and texture, and the drainage is complete. It is said to thrive best in heath-mould; but there are serious mistakes current respecting the kind of heath-soil which is used for fine-rooted plants. That black, fibreless, close, and sandy bog-earth which is often employed, is the very worst of all soils for any plant that is tender. A very open, fibrous moor-soil, however, of a brown colour, and almost free from sand, is unquestionably suitable for such species as this; though a little light loam or leaf-mould should be mingled with it. With such a compost, well-drained, the plant will not fail either in a pot or the open border. It is extremely sensitive to wet, and especial caution should be exercised in preserving it from undue dampness.

Treated in this way, if the shoots are pegged down in winter, it will form a fine spreading bush, and may be increased either by layers or cuttings. The latter strike freely in spring, if managed like those of the Chins Roses. It is quite hardy on a well-drained border.