Rose

Rosa
'Bridal Pink', a hybrid Tea rose at the
Morwell Rose Garden
Scientific classification
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Rosa L.
A wild rose species usually has five petals, making them dicots.
Yellow rose (Rosa foetida) being pollinated by a bee

A rose is a type of flowering shrub. Its name comes from the Latin word Rosa.

Roses can be seen in many gardens. In a big vineyard, a bush of roses are planted at the end of each row of vines. As long as the roses stay healthy, the vine growers assume their vines are healthy as well. Roses can bloom through summer, adding color to gardens.

There are over three hundred species and tens of thousands of cultivars. The flowers of the rose grow in many different colors, from the well-known red rose or yellow rose and sometimes white or purple rose.

Rose thorns are actually prickles – outgrowths of the epidermis

Roses belong to the family of plants called Rosaceae. All roses were originally wild: they grew in North America, Europe, northwest Africa and many parts of Asia and Oceania. There are over 150 different species of roses. The wild rose species can be grown in gardens, but most garden roses are cultivars, which have been selected by people.

Over hundreds of years they have been specially bred to produce a wide variety of growing habits and a broad range of colours from dark red to white including as well yellow and a bluish/lilac colour. Many roses have a strong, pleasant scent.

Most roses have spines (incorrectly called prickles) on their stems. This is a common defense system in plants.

Rose bushes are able to live in a wide variety of conditions. The fruit of the rose is called a hip or a haw or a hep. Some roses have decorative hips.

Roses in legend and in history

Roses are widely used across the world as symbols of love, sympathy or sorrow. Rose is widely used as a girl's name.

The rose was sacred to Venus. Venus was the Roman goddess of love and beauty. It was also linked with Cupid (son of Venus in some versions)

Rich Romans would lie on couches with roses laid on them. They would wear roses tied onto string around their neck. Anything which was said "under the rose" was considered to be a secret. Cleopatra VII of Egypt was said to have had a floor of her palace covered in roses before her lover Mark Antony visited her.

Description and use

Dewdrops on the petals of a rose
Dew drops on rose petals

The flower of the rose plant can be different sizes. It may be as small as 1/2 inch across to a diameter of almost 7 inches. Also, roses can be used for good scent. The scent of the rose comes from tiny perfume glands on the petals, which can be seen through a powerful microscope. Sometimes rose petals are dried and packed so that you can use them for decoration or for scent.

Roses can be seen in many gardens. In a big vineyard, a bush of roses are planted at the end of each row of vines. As long as the roses stay healthy, the vine growers assume their vines are healthy as well.

Garden roses

Hundreds of years ago, the roses in people's gardens looked different from most roses grown today. This 'Tuscany Superb' rose cultivar was discovered in 1837.

There are thousands of rose cultivars that people grow in gardens and on farms. The names used to describe the different types often refer to one species that is the main ancestor of that group, for example, Gallica roses are mostly descended from Rosa gallica. Other groups have several different species among their ancestors. Hybrid Tea roses, Floribunda roses, and English roses are the most common in gardens today. They are of so many colours like red, yellow, orange, pink, purple and so on

Symbolism

In the Catholic religion, rose is a symbolic element of the Holy Rosary; it is reported that Fra Angelico, praying the rosary in the street, saw the Virgin with a group of Angels offering her hymns and prayers while they were composing a crown of roses. Surprised by the vision, he interrupted the prayer and the angels stopped; when he prayed again he saw the angels recommencing to compose the crown of roses to offer to Mary.

Different colored roses were said to have different meanings. That era is passed, but these were the meanings:

References

  1. ↑ "Online Etymology Dictionary". etymonline.com. Retrieved 9 April 2010.
  2. 1 2 "Description of a Rose Flower". ehow.com. Archived from the original on 24 May 2010. Retrieved 9 April 2010.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Barth, Edna & Arndt, Ursula (2000). Hearts, Cupids, and Red Roses: The Story of the Valentine Symbols. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN 978-0-618-06791-6. Retrieved 1 February 2010.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. 1 2 "Bits Of Information For Rose Lovers - Rose Magazine". rosemagazine.com. Archived from the original on 20 April 2010. Retrieved 9 April 2010.
  5. ↑ Graham, Nick (2000). BodyWorks. Discovery Plus. Richard Walker. China: Silver Dolphin Books. p. 37. ISBN 1-57145-448-9.
  6. ↑ Paul Barden (2006). "Old Garden Roses and Beyond". Archived from the original on 9 June 2013. Retrieved 25 Mar 2013.
  7. ↑ Adelaide Trabucco, iconografia rosariana and the Madonna del Santo Rosario di Pompei
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 "Rose Flower Meanings". theflowerexpert.com. Archived from the original on 9 July 2012. Retrieved 8 April 2010.