Valentine Crime: Roses Are Rarely Red…
Ancient symbols of love and beauty, roses are undoubtedly a quintessential part of Valentine’s Day lore. Throughout the world, red roses, in particular, have hands-down proven to be the most popular with the ladies at this time of year (asides, of course, from the “Axl” cultivar craze of circa 1989). But there’s a lot more to the rose than what meets the shop fronts.
Most of the roses we are familiar with are not, strictly speaking, true roses but rather cultivated hybrid varieties (known as hybrid tea roses) grown specifically for their flowers and scent. This practice dates back to at least 500BC and has produced a remarkable array of varieties most of which, however, look very little like their wild species cousins. For one, wild species typically do not have the tightly packed mass of petals we have come to associate with roses. In fact, most species possess only five (or sometimes four) petals per flower.
There are over 100 species of rose, most of which are found in Asia, while smaller numbers are found native to Europe, north America and northwest Africa. They range in size from small compact shrubs to tall climbers that can reach up to 7-metres in height. All of them bear aggregate fruit called a rose hip which although it looks a bit like a berry, is, well, not a berry. As for the rose thorns, well, they are neither, in fact, thorns. For they are, in fact, outgrowths of the epidermis of the plant as opposed to modified stems and so are technically, technically, prickles. Lastly, very few of the native species actually display red flowers - the most common colours being white, pink and yellow.
So there you have it. If your fella happens to surprise you with a big ol’ bunch of red roses this Valentine’s, be sure to surprise him by throwing them right back in his face and telling him to prove his love properly by going out and finding you a proper damn rose!*
*Disclaimer: The Ecolologist cannot be held responsible for any relationship melt-downs resulting from attempting this tactic!
11 Notes/ Hide
- isuhme reblogged this from indigobunting
- isuhme liked this
- beachncreations reblogged this from theecolologist and added:
neat facts about roses
- indigobunting reblogged this from yan-tonz
- indigobunting liked this
- yan-tonz reblogged this from theecolologist
- non-eadem liked this
- femmeviva reblogged this from theecolologist
- femmeviva liked this
- theecolologist posted this