Rose: Symbol of Fantasy

Flowers bear the potential to make any person smile by their attractive colour, fragrance and beauty. Rose is one such good example of this. Rose is a perennial plant belonging to the genus Rosa and family Rosaceae. There are about 100 species of rose are known. The species of rose may be erect shrubs, climbing or trailing plants with stem armed with prickles. Flowers are large, showy with a colossal range of colours like red, yellow, orange pink, white and so on. Majority of the species are native to Asia but others also belong to Europe, northwest Africa and North America. Both cultivars as well as hybrid varieties are grown all over the world for their beauty as well as fragrance. The plant may vary in length from compact, miniature plants to the climbers reaching 7 meters. Hybridization can be easily carried out in these plants so a wide variety of garden roses are easily available. The name rose has been derived from a French word while the scientific name Rosa comes from Latin.    (

Rosaceae Roses and Flowers

)

The leaves are arranged alternately on the stem and vary 5-15 cm in length, pinnate and with 5-9 leaflets and basal stipules. The leaflets are provided with serrated margins and armed with prickles on the underside of the stem. The plants are deciduous but some are evergreen also. The flower generally bears five petals but Rosa sericea is an exception with four petals. Each petal is provided with two lobes and are brightly coloured with different shades of colour. Just beneath the petals there are five sepals which are sometimes large enough that they become visible from above and are alternately arranged. Ovary is inferior which means it develops below the petals and sepals. They are good examples of insect pollinated plants. The fruit is a berry-like structure called as rose-hip. Many domestic varieties do not produce rose hip as the petals are so intimately arranged that they do not provide insects a chance to pollinate the flowers. The hips may be red, purple or black in colour. The hips have an outer fleshy layer known as hypanthium which contains 5-60 seeds covered with stiff hairs. Rose hips of Dog Rose, Rugosa Rose are rich sources of vitamin C. the hips are eaten by small birds like waxwings, finches and thrushes which disperse the seeds through their droppings.

The pricles on the rose stem are typically sickle-shaped hooks which are used for hanging over the vegetation while growing over them. Despite the presence of prickles they are frequently browsed by deer. They form the world's best ornamental plants even grown indoors. The flowers are also used in perfumery as well as cut crop production. Some are also used as landscape plants and also have minor medicinal uses. Rose perfume is made from rose oil which is a mixture of essential compounds. Rose oil contains alcohols geraniol and l-citronellol; and rose camphor, an odourless paraffin. ?-Damascenone is an important component of scent. Rose water left after the extraction of rose oil is used in cuisines in Middle East and Asian countries. Rose hips are also used in making jams, jellies, marmalades as they are rich sources of vitamin C. Roses are also used in Chinese system of medicine for curing stomach problems as well as for the investigation of cancerous growth.

Roses are also a source of fantasy for the artists. Roses are at higher risk of getting infected by the fungal diseases like rose black-spot, rose rust, rose powdery mildew, downy mildew and canker disease. Fungicides are used for curing these diseases. The major pests affecting these ornamental plants are aphids, thrips, Japanese beetles, and caterpillars of lepidopteran insects. Chemical formulations are used in order to terminate these injurious pests as they affect plant growth as well as economic yield.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Navodita_Maurice