Passage II

SOCIAL SCIENCE: This passage is adapted from Taylor's Guide to Roses, edited by Peter Schneider (©1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company).

Fossils found in Europe, Asia, and North America indicate that roses existed approximately 30 million years ago. Among the earliest representations of the flower were decorations on jewelry and ornaments from the early Minoan civilization, which flourished on the island of Crete from about 2800 to 2100 BC. Approximately 1,000 years later, roses began to appear in the paintings and carvings of the later inhabitants of this same island.

It appears that the earliest cultivation of roses may have taken place in China; according to Confucius (551-479? BC), roses were grown in the imperial garden of the Chou dynasty. The Greeks also grew roses but not to the extent that the Romans did. In the ancient world, the cultivation of roses reached its peak in the Roman Empire, in the 300 years following the birth of Christ.

The Romans were extravagant in their love of roses. Wealthy citizens used hundreds of thousands of rose petals to carpet their floors. Nets filled with petals were suspended from the ceiling; released during an evening's festivities, they sent a gentle cascade of color and fragrance onto the guests below. The Romans made beds of rose petals and added the fragrant flowers to their bathwater to perfume and preserve their skin.

Eventually the clamor for roses became so great that even the huge shipments imported to Rome from Egypt were not sufficient to fill the need. In due course, the Romans began to grow their own roses. Displaying the same ingenuity that had led to the building of impressive networks of aqueducts and the sumptuous pleasure palaces at Pompeii, citizens of the empire built greenhouses, where piped-in hot water created the warmth necessary for cultivated plants to produce blossoms throughout the winter.

Long an emblem of festivity and luxury, the rose began to signify more than simple pleasure when Roman civic leaders endowed it with political import. A rose hanging from the ceiling during the course of a political meeting signaled confidentiality-those present must never reveal the secrets exchanged sub rosa.

Rose oil has been used by many civilizations as a perfume and to anoint the dead. In China, where the rose was a royal flower, only the ruling classes were permitted to use these precious oils. And in medieval France, commoners were allowed to enjoy this magnificent fragrance only on their wedding day. At various periods in history, this oil has commanded huge prices—up to six times its weight in gold.

In the 18th century, more than one-third of all herbal remedies for various ailments called for the use of roses, and historically the flower has been significant in a wide range of medicinal applications. The healing properties ascribed to the rose were supposed to lie chiefly in the petals—particularly those or Rosa gallica, which is widely known as the Apothecary Rose.

A conserve made from rose petals was once widely used to strengthen the stomach and assist in digestion. Syrup of roses, made from the DamaskBose, was once commonly prescribed as a purgative. Rose vinegar, made by adding dried petals to a distilled vinegar, was given to relieve headaches. And even the fruit of the rose was employed in early medicine. The pulp was separated from the seeds: blended with sugar. it was sold as a curative for numerous ailments.

At present, roses are not so widely used in medicine; nonetheless, rose hips are employed in a large number of commercial products, notably tea and preserves. They are also one of the chief sources of Vitamin C today.

Most of today's cultivated rose varieties are descended from seven or eight species of wild roses, most of which are in the group that botanists term Gallicanae—Rosa gallica and its near relatives. The evolution of garden roses is complex. When the China Rose was introduced in Europe in 1789, a sort of rose revolution took place. Until that time, the only roses found In Europe were hardy shrubs that bloomed for a short period in late spring or summer. This and other oriental species brought with them a capacity for repeat-flowering. Some of them bore yellow flowers—a novelty—and some had a climbing or trailing habit.

By the late 19h century, the roses of the East and West had been crossed and recrossed many times, creating a range of repeat-flowering roses in many colors and culminating in the creation of the hybrid tea class. Although other classes have come into being since that time, the hybrid teas are still considered to be the most popular of all roses.