04 December 2010

Rosa moyesii hips in December


The red flowered Rosa moyesii Hemsley & E.H. Wilson is a great rose in the summer, but it comes into its own in fall with its large flagon-shaped, sparsely bristled hips.

It is named after the missionary James Moyes (1876-1930) who worked in China - as head of the "China Inland Mission" - and hosted E.H. Wilson who refound the rose in 1903 (it had been first introduced by A.E. Pratt in 1894). As a mark of gratitude Wilson named the rose after Moyes when he described it with William Botting Hemsley.

The leaves are rather delicate with many small leaflets. It is a large shrub and one that Hillier's manual states is "one of the most beautiful roses in cultivation".

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