There remains only to be discussed the _rosette_, which, in spite of its often purely formal character, may be reckoned as in its origin a floral motive, even if it is not obvious that it is derived from any particular plant. It may be said to have two distinct forms, the star and the disc,[2049] the former consisting of an indefinite number of radiating arms or leaves, the latter of a simple disc surrounded by a row of dots. In both forms it is found at all periods, not so much as a formal pattern in bands or groups, but as a decorative adjunct to surfaces within or without the field of the design, especially as a ground ornament on Ionic, Corinthian, and other early fabrics, or as an embellishment of the draperies worn by the figures on the vases. [Illustration: FIG. 169. ROSETTE (RHODIAN).] [Illustration: FIG. 170. ROSETTE (APULIAN).] In the Mycenaean period it is found usually in the dotted disc form, as a ground ornament, but the star form is by no means rare.[2050] In later Cypriote pottery the star-shaped rosette sometimes occurs in a band of ornament, left in the colour of the clay on a black background[2051]; but the other type is more common in conjunction with the concentric circles. In Hellenic pottery the rosette at first appears exclusively as a ground-ornament, and this function it fulfils both in Corinthian and early Ionic pottery to a large extent, as well as in some of the smaller groups. In the Rhodian and Naucratite wares it assumes very varied forms (_e.g._ Fig. 169, from the Euphorbos pinax), intermingled with hook-armed crosses and bits of maeander; in the early Corinthian wares it takes the shape of an approximately circular flower of six petals, which covers every available vacant space over the area of the design[2052]; these are often rendered with great carelessness, the artist’s only object being apparently to insert a patch of colour where it would fill in a space. Subsequently the rosettes become both more symmetrical and at the same time fewer in number, and by the beginning of the Attic B.F. style have altogether disappeared. Occasionally they are employed for a band of ornament on the lip, neck, or handles of a B.F. vase.[2053] Lost sight of for a period of some two hundred years, the rosette springs again to life in the vases of Apulia, resuming its old functions as a ground-ornament, and also being employed in bands on the neck or elsewhere. It usually appears in the form of a star-shaped flower of six or eight petals, in red edged with white on the black ground (Fig. 170). * * * * * It may also be found convenient to treat the ornamentation of Greek vases from a different point of view, in order to give an outline of the decorative system adopted in each of the principal styles, and as considered appropriate to the various forms.