Rose

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Rosa
Rosa hemisphaerica
Rosa hemisphaerica
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Rosales
Family: Rosaceae
Genus: Rosa L. 1753
Type species
Rosa cinnamomea L. 1753
Species

About 140 species

A rose is any of thousands of varieties of shrubs and flowers belonging to the genus Rosa. There is disagreement as to how many species of rose there are, and there are thousands of varieties and cultivars of those. Roses belong to a larger group called a family, named Rosaceae, and this includes brambles and briars.

Roses are significant to human beings in several ways: they are among the most popular of garden flowers, are frequently given as gifts, from expressions of love to expression of condolence, their fragrance is important in the perfume industry, and their dried seeds, called hips, are used medicinally and as herbal teas.

Cultivated roses are broadly divided into several groups:

  • Hybrid tea rose
  • English rose
  • Modern rose

Wild roses, although not often seen in modern gardens due to their extreme prickliness and short flowering season, are nevertheless prized by those with enough room to enjoy them because of their often aromatic foliage and the soft sweetness of the scent of their flowers. They are generally only featured in the “wild garden”.

Roses have inspired some of the best-known lines in English-language literature, including:

  • That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet.

William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet

  • My Love is like a red, red rose

Robert Burns

  • A rose is a rose is a rose

Gertrude Stein