Short history on roses

1
Short history on roses

• In the beginning only wild roses were to be
  found. These flowers went through a series of
  genetic transformations which origin is still
  unknown. Later, due to human intervention, it
  shape evolve overtime leaving us multiple forms
  and colors or varieties that we now find at the
  local florist like OHaras, David Austin and
  Haiku among others.

2

• Roses belong to the family Rosacea, which also
  embraces other agricultural plants like apple,
  pear, cherry, plum, strawberry and other
  ornamental plants. However, the rose is the only
  one in the genus Rose with certain
  characteristics woody plant stems provided with
  sharp prickles and flowers usually with five
  petals
• In the beginning only wild roses were to be
  found. They went through a series of genetic
  transformations which origin is still unknown.
  Later, due to human intervention, it shape evolve
  overtime leaving us multiple forms and colors or
  varieties that we now find at the local florist
  or wholesale roses resellers, like OHaras,
  David Austin and Haiku among others.
• This flowers became so popular that they are the
  main decoration in birthdays, wedding bouquets or
  baptism.

3

• There are two mayor groups that separate Roses,
  modern and antique. It is generally accepted for
  roses dated before 1920s to be antique.
• Even though, modern and antique roses may not
  differ too much, a couple of elements can help us
  differentiate them.
• Modern roses have big bright leafs with five
  leaflets, spaced through the branches and their
  shape is almost the same among varieties. The
  stem of the contemporary roses, armed with strong
  thorns, are straighter and rigid.
• Antique roses have leafs with varied textures,
  formed by a bigger number of leaflets of smaller
  size. On the other hand antique roses usually are
  more languid, flexible with smaller but numerous
  thorns.

4
Mayor classification

• The botanical garden is a place where plants are
  found classified, its a suitable place to find
  the different classes of roses.
• Wild roses
• The wild Roses are bushy plants that can be found
  in nature. Most of the time the geographic origin
  is referenced. Is interesting to point out that
  we can find wild species from the Arctic Circle
  (Rosa acicularis) but in the southern hemisphere
  we cannot find any autochthonous specie.
• The first varieties
• Some roses are identified with a single name
  without indicating date or name of the person
  that reproduced them. These are the most antique
  roses and belong to our vegetable heritage. In
  some cases their origin is still a mystery. Are
  they the product of human intervention? Were they
  born by hybridization or seed selection? Was it
  the bees or the wind? It was only until the XIX
  century that the first classifications appear
  from a few enthusiasts. If you really want to
  know the ancient ones you may refer to Greek or
  Roman literature Herodotus, Theophrastus and
  Plinio.