ROSE

ROSE

LATIN NAME: ROSA

MOTHERLAND: CHINA

The longest, most colorful, most complex life story

When we look back, rose fossils dating back 40 million years have been found in various parts of Colorado and Europe. In addition, when we look at the oldest document in which the rose is mentioned, the written records of Confucius dating back to 500 BC, it is seen that the rose's presence in garden culture dates back five thousand years in China. Based on this information, the rose's homeland has been accepted as China.

From the beginning of its known history to the present day, it has been the most preferred flower to express all kinds of emotions and thoughts, from war to peace, love, affection, respect and hatred, with its different colors and presentation styles.

The fact that it is accepted as its homeland as China has also led to the emergence of contradictory information about where and how the rose spread. According to one opinion, it is thought to have been brought to Europe by the botanist Theophrastus from Alexander the Great's Asia Campaign, but this opinion contradicts Greek Mythology, Babylonian and Ancient Egyptian records.

In the sixth chapter of Theophrastus's work Historia Plantarum, where he describes thorny plants, he mentions a fragrant flower with petals used in perfume production. When he wrote that the most fragrant of these flowers came from the city of Kyrene in Libya, the possibility of these flowers being roses was eliminated, because even today there is a rose variety specific to the region.

Again, Alexander the Great's Asia Campaign, which Theophrastus compiled in Historia Plantarum and is thought to have brought the rose to Europe, took place in the fourth century BC. However, there are also historical records and findings about the rose that date back to earlier times. Apart from the narrative-based Greek Mythology, there are also historical records and findings that date back to the 4th century BC. Rose petals were found in the tomb of the Egyptian Pharaoh Thutmose IV, who reigned in the 14th century, and in the 3rd chapter of the Gospel of Daniel, it is written that the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar II, who lived in the 6th century BC, slept in a bed filled with rose petals. This information tells that the rose came from Asia to the Middle East and from there to Europe, indicating that the existence of the rose in the Middle East dates back before Theophrastus.

In Greek Mythology, the only source that explains how the rose came into being, there are 3 different stories, one of which is accepted as the source of its Latin name. In the first story, the Goddess Aphrodite unknowingly stumbles upon thorns while running to save the life of her lover Adonis. Red flowers miraculously bloom from the blood flowing from her bleeding wounds. The Goddess Aphrodite loves these red flowers blooming from her own blood, and names this flower ROS by removing the letter E at the beginning of the name of her son, the god of love Eros. Following this, Eros gave the Rose attributed to him to Harpocrates, the god of silence, to cover up a secret between them, and the Rose became the symbol of secrecy and love from then on.

According to another story in Greek Mythology, when Flora, the goddess of flowers, found the dead body of her favorite water nymph, she called on all the gods to help her transform into the most beautiful flower that would be the queen of all flowers. Apollo gave her the breath of life, Dionysus washed her with nectar, Vertumnus, the god of climates, gave her scent, Pomona, the goddess of fruits, gave her fruit, and Flora, the goddess of flowers, gave her her crown. Thus, the queen of flowers, the Rose, was born.