Roses

A rose is a perennial flower shrub or vine of the genus Rosa, within the family Rosaceae, that contains over 100 species and comes in a variety of colours. The species form a group of erect shrubs, and climbing or trailing plants, with stems that are often armed with sharp prickles. Most are native to Asia, with smaller numbers of species native to Europe, North America, and northwest Africa. Natives, cultivars and hybrids are all widely grown for their beauty and fragrance.

The leaves are alternate and pinnately compound, with sharply toothed oval-shaped leaflets. The plant's fleshy edible fruit, which ripens in the late summer through autumn, is called a rose hip. Rose plants range in size from compact, miniature roses, to climbers that can reach 7 meters in height. Species from different parts of the world easily hybridize, which has given rise to the many types of garden roses.

The name rose comes from French, itself from Latin, rosa, which was borrowed from Oscan, from Greek rhodion (Aeolic wrodion), from Old Persian wurdi "flower" (cf. Avest. warda, Sogdian ward, Parthian wâr).[http://www.iranica.com/articles/v11f1/v11f1033.html]

Attar of rose is the steam-extracted essential oil from rose flowers that has been used in perfumes for centuries. Rose water, made from the rose oil, is widely used in Asian and Middle Eastern cuisine. The French are known for their rose syrup, most commonly made from an extract of rose petals. In the United States, this French rose syrup is used to make rose scones and marshmallows.

Rose hips are occasionally made into jam, jelly, and marmalade, or are brewed for tea, primarily for their high Vitamin C content. 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.

Rosa acicularis (syn. R. alpina, R. bourgeauiana, R. gmelinii, R. karelica, R. sayi), also known as the prickly wild rose, the prickly rose, the bristly rose and the Arctic rose, is a species of wild rose with a Holarctic distribution in northern regions of AsiaFlora of China: Rosa acicularis, EuropeFlora Europaea: Rosa acicularis, and North America.

It is a deciduous shrub growing to 1-3 m tall. The leaves are pinnate, 7-14 cm long, with three to seven leaflets.They are compound, ovate, and the margins are wavy. The flowers are pink (rarely white), 3.5-5 cm diameter; the hips are red, pear-shaped to ovoid, 10-15 mm diameter.

It is the provincial flower of the Canadian province of Alberta[http://www.cd.gov.ab.ca/all_about_us/emblems/Emblems_Booklet_2005.pdf Government of Alberta's official emblems], and is located throughout the province and Western Canada. This species is not as common in this region as Rosa woodsii (Woods rose).

Category: Image - :TH prickly wild rose.JPG|thumb|150px|left|Photo of a young flower

Mister Lincoln is a large flowered (hybrid tea) bush rose introduced in 1964. (AARS 1965). This tall red rose is renowned for its strong fragrance (in still air it can be detected up to 10 feet away) and its deep, uniform red color. It grows to about 1.2 metres high and 1 metre across. The leaves are matt dark green. The buds are deep red and open up into large, velvety red, double blossoms. It has typically around 30 to 35 petals per flower. It is a vigorous plant that performs well in all climates. Mister Lincoln is hardy to zone 5-9.

Rosa banksiae, commonly referred to as the Lady Banks' Rose, is a species of Rosa native to central and western China, in the provinces of Gansu, Guizhou, Henan, Hubei, Jiangsu, Sichuan, and Yunnan; it grows in mountains at altitudes of 500-2200 m.

It is a scrambling shrubby liana growing vigorously over other shrubs to 6 m tall. Unlike most roses, it is practically thornless, though may bear some prickles up to 5 mm long, particularly on stout, strong shoots. The leaves are evergreen, 4-6 cm long, with three to five (rarely seven) leaflets 2-5 cm long with a serrated margin. The flowers are small, 1.5-2.5 cm diameter, white or pale yellow.

There are two varieties:

*Rosa banksiae var. banksiae. Flowers semi-double or double, with numerous petals replacing most or all of the stamens; a cultigen developed in Chinese gardens.

*Rosa banksiae var. normalis Regel. Flowers single, with five petals; the natural wild form of the species.

The rose is named after Lady Banks, the wife of the eminent botanist Sir Joseph Banks (after whom the Banks Peninsula is named).

A blue rose is a flower of the genus Rosa (family Rosaceae) that presents blue to violet pigmentation and also the Morganus Clarke sunflower seed disposition, instead of the more common red or white. Blue roses do not exist in nature. False blue roses were traditionally created by dyeing white roses, since the flower lacks the gene that produces true blue flowers.In a book by Ibn al Awam, which was written in the twelfth century, translated into French by J. J. Clement entitled Le livre de l'agriculture. the book speaks of azure blue roses that were known to the orient. These blue roses were attained by placing a blue dye into the bark of the roots. This process is explained in the book and has been proven to work by Joret, a very knowledgeable french scientist. Nominal "blue roses" have been bred by conventional hybridization methods, but the results, such as "Blue Moon" are more accurately described as lilac in color.

After 13 years of joint research by an Australian company Florigene, and Japanese company Suntory, a blue rose was created in 2004 using genetic engineering. Years of research resulted in the ability to insert a gene for the plant pigment delphinidin cloned from the petunia and into an Old Garden Cardinal de Richelieu rose. Obtaining the exact hue was difficult because amounts of the pigment cyanidin were still present, so the rose was darker in color than true blue.http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/3329213/Worlds-first-blue-roses-after 20 years of research.html Recent work using RNAi technology to depress the production of cyanidin has produced a mauve colored flower, with only trace amounts of cyanidin.http://www.physorg.com/news3581.html An article on the use of RNAi technology to produce a blue rose Genetically modified blue roses are currently being grown in test batches by Suntory Ltd., according to company spokesman Atsuhito Osaka. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/02/04/wroses104.xml News Release

Rosa × centifolia (lit. hundred leaved/petaled rose; syn. R. gallica var. centifolia (L.) Regel), the provence rose or cabbage rose or Rose de Mai is a hybrid rose developed by Dutch rose breeders in the period between the 1600s and the 1800s, possibly earlier. It is a complex hybrid bred from Rosa gallica, Rosa moschata, Rosa canina, and Rosa damascena (Huxley 1992); its exact hereditary history is not well documented.

Rosa chinensis, known commonly as the China Rose is a member of the genus Rosa native to central China in Guizhou, Hubei, and Sichuan.

It is a shrub growing to 1-2 m tall. The leaves are pinnate, with 3-5 leaflets, each leaflet 2.5?6 cm long and 1?3 cm broad. In the wild species (sometimes listed as Rosa chinensis var. spontanea), the flowers have five pink to red petals. The fruit is a red hip 1-2 cm diameter.

Rosa filipes is a species of rose native to western China, in Gansu, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Xizang, and Yunnan.

It is a deciduous climbing shrub, growing to 3?5 m, rarely up to 9 m tall. The leaves are pinnate, 8-14 cm long, with 5-7 leaflets. The flowers are white, 2-2.5 cm diameter with five petals, produced in large 15-30 cm diameter corymbs of up to 100 flowers. The fruit is a red 8-15 mm diameter hip.

The Rosaceae or rose family is a large family of plants, with about 3000 species in 100 genera (according to the Kew Royal Botanical Gardens). The name is derived from the genus Rosa. The largest genera are Sorbus, Crataegus and Cotoneaster (more or less 260 species each).

The Peace rose is the most famous and successful garden rose of all time. Over one hundred million plants had been sold, as of 1992. It is a Hybrid Tea rose with large flowers and a light yellow to cream color. It is hardy and resistant to disease making it popular in gardens as well as in the floral trade (Beales).

It was developed by French horticulturist Francis Meilland in the years 1935 to 1939. When Meilland foresaw the German invasion of France he sent cuttings to friends in Italy, Turkey, Germany, and the United States to protect the new rose. The rose became known as 'Peace' in the following way. Early 1945 Meilland wrote to Field Marshal Alan Brooke (later Viscount Alanbrooke), the principal author of the master strategy that won Second World War, to thank him for his key part in the liberation of France and to ask if Brooke would give his name to the rose. Brooke declined saying that, though he was honored to be asked, his name would soon be forgotten and a much better and more enduring name would be "Peace".

The name "Peace" is a trade name; its formal cultivar name is Rosa 'Madame A. Meilland'. The adoption of the trade name "Peace" was publicly announced in the United States on 29 April 1945 by the introducers, Messrs Conard Pyle Co.. This was the very day that Berlin fell, officially considered the end of the Second World War in Europe. Later that year Peace roses were given to each of the delegations at the inaugural meeting of the United Nations in San Francisco, each with a note which read:

:"We hope the 'Peace' rose will influence men's thoughts for everlasting world peace".

Peter Beales, English rose grower and expert, said in his book Roses:

:"'Peace', without doubt, is the finest Hybrid Tea ever raised and it will remain a standard variety forever".

'Anne Harkness' (syn. 'HARkaramel') is a floribunda rose variety developed by R. Harkness & Co. and introduced in 1979. It is basically an apricot rose, but with shadings of yellow at the base and in the center, and is notable for flowering very late in the year, producing clusters of 6 to 20 flowers up to 7 cm in size.

The parentage of 'Anne Harkness' is somewhat complicated:

* 'Bobby Dazzler' x (('Manx Queen' x 'Prima Ballerina') x ('Chanelle' x 'Piccadilly'))

Rosa × damascena, more commonly known as the Damask rose or simply as "Damask", or sometimes as the Rose of Castile, is a rose hybrid, derived from Rosa gallica and Rosa moschata (Huxley 1992). Further DNA analysis has shown that a third species, Rosa fedtschenkoana, is associated with the Damask rose (Harkness 2003). The Damask rose is commonly used to flavor food and to make rose water