Rose

The oldest remains of roses are from the Late Eocene Florissant Formation of Colorado.[6] Roses were present in Europe by the early Oligocene.[7]

Today's garden roses come from 18th-century China.[8] Among the old Chinese garden roses, the Old Blush group is the most primitive, while newer groups are the most diverse.[9]

Blooming roses at Huntington Library in San Marino, California, United States

Various roses at Rose Garden at Huntington Library in San Marino, California

Rosa gallica 'Evêque', painted by Redouté

The genus Rosa is composed of 140–180 species and divided into four subgenera:[10]

• 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 stipules.
• 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 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.

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.[11] It is estimated that 30 to 35 thousand rose hybrids and cultivars have been bred and selected for garden use as flowering plants.[12] Most are double-flowered with many or all of the stamens having morphed into additional petals.

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 cultivars, 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.

Bouquet of pink roses

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.

In temperate climates, cut roses are often grown in greenhouses, 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.[13]

Some kind of roses are artificially coloured using dyed water, like rainbow roses.

Geraniol (C
₁₀H
₁₈O)

Rose perfumes are made from rose oil (also called attar of roses), which is a mixture of volatile essential oils 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 Persia[14] and then spread through Arabia and India, and more recently into eastern Europe. In Bulgaria, Iran and Germany, damask roses (Rosa × damascena 'Trigintipetala') are used. In other parts of the world Rosa × centifolia is commonly used. The oil is transparent pale yellow or yellow-grey in colour. 'Rose Absolute' is solvent-extracted with hexane and produces a darker oil, dark yellow to orange in colour. The weight of oil extracted is about one three-thousandth to one six-thousandth of the weight of the flowers; for example, about two thousand flowers are required to produce one gram of oil.

The main constituents of attar of roses are the fragrant alcohols geraniol and L-citronellol and rose camphor, an odorless solid composed of alkanes, which separates from rose oil.[15] β-Damascenone is also a significant contributor to the scent.

Rosa rubiginosa hips

Farming of Rosa rugosa

Rose hips are high in vitamin C, are edible raw,[16] and occasionally made into jam, jelly, marmalade, and soup, or are brewed for tea. They are also pressed and filtered to make rose hip syrup. Rose hips are also used to produce rose hip seed oil, which is used in skin products and some makeup products.[17]

Gulab jamun made with rose water

Rose water has a very distinctive flavour and is used in Middle Eastern, Persian, and South Asian cuisine—especially in sweets such as Turkish delight,[18] barfi, baklava, halva, gulab jamun, knafeh, and nougat. Rose petals or flower buds are sometimes used to flavour ordinary tea, or combined with other herbs to make herbal teas. A sweet preserve of rose petals called gulkand is common in the Indian subcontinent. The leaves and washed roots are also sometimes used to make tea.[16]

In France, there is much use of rose syrup, 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.[19][20]

The flower stems and young shoots are edible, as are the petals (sans the white or green bases).[16] The latter are usually used as flavouring or to add their scent to food.[21] Other minor uses include candied rose petals.[22]

Rose creams (rose-flavoured fondant 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,[23] there are only certain Rosa species, varieties, and parts are listed as generally recognized as safe (GRAS).

• 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.[24]

The rose hip, usually from R. canina, is used as a minor source of vitamin C.[25] Diarrhodon (Gr διάρροδον, "compound of roses", from ῥόδων, "of roses"[26]) is a name given to various compounds in which red roses are an ingredient.

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.[27][28] In the Iliad, Aphrodite protects the body of Hector using the "immortal oil of the rose"[29][27] and the archaic Greek lyric poet Ibycus praises a beautiful youth saying that Aphrodite nursed him "among rose blossoms".[30][27] The second-century AD Greek travel writer Pausanias associates the rose with the story of Adonis and states that the rose is red because Aphrodite wounded herself on one of its thorns and stained the flower red with her blood.[31][27] Book Eleven of the ancient Roman novel The Golden Ass by Apuleius contains a scene in which the goddess Isis, who is identified with Venus, instructs the main character, Lucius, who has been transformed into a donkey, to eat rose petals from a crown of roses worn by a priest as part of a religious procession in order to regain his humanity.[28]

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.[32][33][28] The rose symbol eventually led to the creation of the rosary and other devotional prayers in Christianity.[34][28]

Framed print after 1908 painting by Henry Payne of the scene in the Temple Garden, where supporters of the rival factions in the Wars of the Roses pick either red or white roses

Ever since the 1400s, the Franciscans have had a Crown Rosary of the Seven Joys of the Blessed Virgin Mary.[28] In the 1400s and 1500s, the Carthusians promoted the idea of sacred mysteries associated with the rose symbol and rose gardens.[28] Albrecht Dürer's painting The Feast of the Rosary (1506) depicts the Virgin Mary distributing garlands of roses to her worshippers.[28]

Roses symbolised the Houses of York and Lancaster in a conflict known as the Wars of the Roses.

Roses are a favored subject in art and appear in portraits, illustrations, on stamps, as ornaments or as architectural elements. The Luxembourg-born Belgian 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.[35]

In 1986 President Ronald Reagan signed legislation to make the rose[36] the floral emblem of the United States.[37]

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  Codex Manesse illuminated with roses, illustrated between 1305 and 1340 in Zürich. It contains love songs in Middle High German
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  Princess Maria Amélia of Brazil with a rose in her hair (1849)
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  The Roses of Heliogabalus by Alma-Tadema (1888)
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  White rose pictured in the coat of arms of Viljandi
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  Insignia of the Brazilian Order of the Rose