Rose Flower

Roses (Rosa) are the namesake plant genus of the rose family (Rosaceae). These form a very well-defined genus by their typical characteristics of spines, rose hips, and imparipinnate leaves. They are shrubs with usually showy, five-petaled flowers. Most species are distributed only in the Holarctic. The science of roses is called rhodology. Horticulturally, a distinction is made between wild roses and cultivated roses.

The rose has been called the "queen of flowers" since ancient Greece. Roses have been cultivated as ornamental plants for more than 2000 years. The rose oil extracted from the petals is an important basic ingredient in the perfume industry. Rose species are deciduous, rarely evergreen shrubs. Their independently erect or climbing shoot axes are up to 4 meters high. Ground-lying shoot axes become longer, and some are prostrate or creeping.

Many species develop woody ground stolons and then form colonies. Shoot axils may be covered with glands or hairs, and both may be absent. The presence of glands is coupled with more or less strong scent. Pubescence (indument) may involve all above-ground organs (except rose hips and stamens); the shape, number, and distribution of hairs are characteristic of particular clades, and pubescence is an ontogenetically constant feature (senescence is very rare).