A rose is either a woody perennial plant flowering plant of the genus Rosa (),
Etymology
The name
rose comes from Latin
rosa, which was perhaps borrowed from
Oscan, from
Greek language ῥόδον
rhódon (
Aeolic Greek βρόδον
wródon), itself borrowed from Old Persian
wrd- (
wurdi), related to
Avestan language varəδa,
Sogdian language ward, Parthian
wâr.
[ The Free Dictionary, " rose".]
Botany
The
leaves are borne alternately on the stem. In most species, they are long,
pinnate, with (3–) 5–9 (−13) leaflets and basal
; the leaflets usually have a serrated margin, and often a few small prickles on the underside of the stem. Most roses are
deciduous but a few (particularly from
Southeast Asia) are
evergreen or nearly so.
Thorns
The sharp growths along a rose stem, though commonly called "thorns", are technically prickles, outgrowths of the epidermis (the outer layer of tissue of the stem), unlike true thorns, which are modified stems. Rose prickles are typically sickle-shaped hooks, which aid the rose in hanging onto other vegetation when growing over it. Some species such as
Rosa rugosa and
R. pimpinellifolia have densely packed straight prickles, probably an adaptation to reduce browsing by animals, but also possibly an adaptation to trap wind-blown
sand and so reduce
erosion and protect their
(both of these species grow naturally on
dune). Despite the presence of prickles, roses are frequently browsed by
deer. A few species of roses have only vestigial prickles that have no points.
Plant geneticist Zachary Lippman of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory found that prickles are controlled by the LOG gene.
Flower
The
of most species have five petals, with the exception of
Rosa omeiensis and
Rosa sericea, which usually have only four. Each
petal is divided into two distinct lobes and is usually white or pink, though in a few species yellow or red. Beneath the petals are five
sepals (or in the case of some
Rosa omeiensis and
Rosa sericea, four). These may be long enough to be visible when viewed from above and appear as green points alternating with the rounded petals. The coloured petals are fused on the axis and arranged in five bundles forming a circle, the petal bundles expand further from each other;
the petals form a cup or disc surrounding the
gynoecium.
There are multiple superior ovaries that develop into
.
Reproduction
Roses are insect-pollinated in nature. A fertilized ovary forms a berry-like
aggregate fruit called a "
rose hip". The hips of most species are red, but a few (e.g.
Rosa pimpinellifolia) have dark purple to black hips. Each hip comprises an outer fleshy layer, the
hypanthium, which contains 5–160 "seeds" (technically dry single-seeded fruits called
) embedded in a matrix of fine, but stiff, hairs. Rose hips of some species, especially the
dog rose (
Rosa canina) and
rugosa rose (
R. rugosa), are very rich in vitamin C, among the richest sources of any plant. The hips are eaten by fruit-eating
such as thrushes and
, which then disperse the
in their droppings.
Many of the domestic do not produce hips, as the are too tightly petalled to provide access for pollination and the plants can only propagate through human-made cuttings.
Evolution
The oldest remains of roses are from the Late
Eocene Florissant Formation of Colorado.
Roses were present in
Europe by the early
Oligocene.
Today's garden roses come from 18th-century China.
Genome
A study of the patterns of natural selection in the
genome of roses indicated that
related to
DNA repair and stress adaptation have been positively selected, likely during their domestication.
This rapid evolution may reflect an adaptation to genome confliction resulting from frequent intra- and inter-species hybridization and switching environmental conditions of growth.
[
]
Species
The genus Rosa is composed of 140–180 species and divided into four subgenera:
-
Hulthemia (formerly Simplicifoliae, meaning "with single leaves") containing two species from Southwest Asia, Rosa persica and Rosa berberifolia, which are the only roses without compound leaves or .
-
Hesperrhodos (from the Greek for "western rose") contains Rosa minutifolia and Rosa stellata, from North America.
-
Platyrhodon (from the Greek for "flaky rose", referring to flaky bark) with one species from east Asia, Rosa roxburghii (also known as the chestnut rose).
-
Rosa (the biological type subgenus, sometimes incorrectly called Eurosa) containing all the other roses. This subgenus is subdivided into 11 sections.
-
Banksianae – white and yellow flowered roses from China.
-
Bracteatae – three species, two from China and one from India.
-
Caninae – pink and white flowered species from Asia, Europe and North Africa.
-
Carolinae – white, pink, and bright pink flowered species all from North America.
-
Chinensis – white, pink, yellow, red and mixed-colour roses from China and Burma.
-
Gallicanae – pink to crimson and striped flowered roses from western Asia and Europe.
-
Gymnocarpae – one species in western North America ( Rosa gymnocarpa), others in east Asia.
-
Laevigatae – a single white flowered species from China.
-
Pimpinellifoliae – white, pink, bright yellow, mauve and striped roses from Asia and Europe.
-
Rosa (syn. sect. Cinnamomeae) – white, pink, lilac, mulberry and red roses from everywhere but North Africa.
-
Synstylae – white, pink, and crimson flowered roses from all areas.
Ecology
Some birds, particularly , eat the seeds.
Pests and diseases
Wild roses are host plants for a number of pests and diseases. Many of these affect other plants, including other genera of the Rosaceae.
Cultivated roses are often subject to severe damage from insect, arachnid and fungal pests and diseases. In many cases they cannot be usefully grown without regular treatment to control these problems.
Uses
Roses are best known as grown for their flowers in the garden and sometimes indoors. They have also been used for commercial perfumery and commercial cut flower crops. Some are used as landscape plants, for hedging and for other utilitarian purposes such as game cover and slope stabilization.
Ornamental plants
The majority of ornamental roses are hybrids that were bred for their flowers. A few, mostly species roses are grown for attractive or scented foliage (such as Rosa glauca and Rosa rubiginosa), ornamental thorns (such as Rosa sericea) or for their showy fruit (such as Rosa moyesii).
Ornamental roses have been cultivated for millennia, with the earliest known cultivation known to date from at least 500 BC in Mediterranean countries, Persia, and China.
In the early 19th century the Empress Josephine of France patronized the development of rose breeding at her gardens at Malmaison. As long ago as 1840 a collection numbering over one thousand different , varieties and species was possible when a rosarium was planted by Loddiges nursery for Abney Park Cemetery, an early Victorian garden cemetery and arboretum in England.
Cut flowers
Roses are a popular crop for both domestic and commercial cut flowers. Generally they are harvested and cut when in bud, and held in refrigerated conditions until ready for display at their point of sale. The price of the roses depends partly on the characteristics of the rose itself, such as how long the stem is and how big the bloom is, and partly on factors about how it was grown, such as which country it was grown in.
In temperate climates, cut roses are often grown in , and in warmer countries they may also be grown under cover in order to ensure that the flowers are not damaged by weather and that pest and disease control can be carried out effectively. Significant quantities are grown in some tropical countries, and these are shipped by air to markets across the world.
Some kind of roses are artificially coloured using dyed water, like .
Perfume
Rose perfumes are made from rose oil (also called attar of roses), which is a mixture of volatile obtained by steam distilling the crushed petals of roses. An associated product is rose water which is used for cooking, cosmetics, medicine and religious practices. The production technique originated in Iran
The main constituents of attar of roses are the fragrant alcohols geraniol and L-citronellol and rose camphor, an odorless solid composed of , which separates from rose oil.
Food and drink
Rose hips, usually from R. canina, are high in vitamin C, and are edible raw after the removal of the irritant hairs.
Rose water has a very distinctive flavour and is used in Middle Eastern, Persian cuisine, and South Asian cuisine—especially in sweets such as Turkish delight,
In France, there is much use of rose water, most commonly made from an extract of rose petals. In the Indian subcontinent, Rooh Afza, a concentrated squash made with roses, is popular, as are rose-flavoured frozen desserts such as ice cream and kulfi.
The flower stems and young shoots are edible, as are the petals (sans the white or green bases).
Rose creams (rose-flavoured Fondant icing covered in chocolate, often topped with a crystallised rose petal) are a traditional English confectionery widely available from numerous producers in the UK.
Under the American Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act,
-
Rose absolute: Rosa alba L., Rosa centifolia L., Rosa damascena Mill., Rosa gallica L., and vars. of these spp.
-
Rose (otto of roses, attar of roses): Ditto
-
Rose buds
-
Rose flowers
-
Rose fruit (hips)
-
Rose leaves: Rosa spp.
Art and symbolism
The long cultural history of the rose has led to it being used often as a symbol. In ancient Greece, the rose was closely associated with the goddess Aphrodite.[ Iliad 23.185–187][Ibycus, fragment 288.4][Pausanias, Description of Greece 6.24.7 ]
Following the Christianization of the Roman Empire, the rose became identified with the Virgin Mary. The colour of the rose and the number of roses received has symbolic representation.
Ever since the 1400s, the Franciscans have had a Crown Rosary of the Seven Joys of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Roses symbolised the Houses of York and Lancaster in a conflict known as the Wars of the Roses. Subsequently roses of the corresponding colours have been used a emblems for the English counties of Yorkshire and Lancashire.
The Tudor rose combines the colours of the roses of York and Lancaster, and is an emblem of then Tudor dynasty and of England.
Roses are a favored subject in art and appear in portraits, illustrations, on stamps, as ornaments or as architectural elements. The Luxembourg-born Belgium artist and botanist Pierre-Joseph Redouté is known for his detailed watercolours of flowers, particularly roses.
Henri Fantin-Latour was also a prolific painter of still life, particularly flowers including roses. The rose 'Fantin-Latour' was named after the artist.
Other impressionists including Claude Monet, Paul Cézanne and Pierre-Auguste Renoir have paintings of roses among their works. In the 19th century, for example, artists associated the city of Trieste with a certain rare white rose, and this rose developed as the city's symbol. It was not until 2021 that the rose, which was believed to be extinct, was rediscovered there.[Ugo Salvini "La rarissima Rosa di Trieste spezza l’oblio e rispunta a sorpresa sulle colline di Muggia" In: Il Piccolo 27.01.2021, La Rosa.]
In 1986 President Ronald Reagan signed legislation to make the rose
The rose is often exchanged on St. Valentines Day and is used often as a symbol of such.
Tang-4.jpg| (late 9th centuty) with a rose twig on the left
百花圖卷-長春花.jpg|13th-century Chinese painting of Rosa chinensis 'Old Blush'
31-primavera,Taccuino Sanitatis, Casanatense 4182..jpg|Illustration of roses from the 14th-century edition of Tacuinum Sanitatis
Codex Manesse Rudolf von Neuenburg.jpg|Codex Manesse illuminated with roses, illustrated between 1305 and 1340 in Zürich. It contains love songs in Middle High German
Pisanello - Madone à la caille.jpg| Madonna of the Quail (c. 1420) with roses in the background
Maria Amelia of Braganza.jpg|Princess Maria Amélia of Brazil with a rose in her hair (1849)
The Roses of Heliogabalus.jpg| The Roses of Heliogabalus by Alma-Tadema (1888)
Et-Viljandi coa.svg|White rose pictured in the coat of arms of Viljandi
Tudor Rose.svg|The Tudor rose is a combination of the red rose of Lancaster and the white rose of York
Imperial Order of the Rose (Brazil) - Fram Museum.jpg|Insignia of the Brazilian Order of the Rose
See also
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ADR rose
-
List of Award of Garden Merit roses
-
List of rose cultivars named after people
-
Rose (colour)
-
Rose garden
-
Rose Hall of Fame
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Rose show
-
Rose trial grounds
External links
