There are four
native roses found in Alabama, climbing rose, Rosa setigera Michx., swamp rose, R. palustris Marsh., Carolina
rose, R. carolina L., and Virginia rose,
R. virginiana Mill.Typical of wild roses these are all have five
petals.I may have seen a few
although I'm not sure if any were just naturalized cultivated roses that
had reverted to the wild type.The
noninvasive escaped roses reported from Alabama
include musk rose, R. moschataJ. Herrm.,
Cherokee rose, R. laevigata Michx., sweetbriar
rose, R. eglanteria L., dog rose, R. canina L., memorial rose, R.wichuraiana Crép., and McCartney rose, R. bracteata J.C. Wendl.An invasive exotic rose is multiflora rose,
R. multiflora Thunb., and not surprisingly it is one of several that are called
Japanese rose.Between Japanese beetles,
shade, and other disease and/or pest often found on roses most if not all of the invasive roses I have seen
are now gone.Due to roses being so high
maintenance I would limit planting them to a few proven resistant or vigorous varieties that
will out grow most problems. A good source for such roses is Petals from the Past.Grafted roses
should also be avoided because eventually they will die back below the graft,
and worse they are often patented thus illegal to reproduce without a license
and royalty fee.
When roses are mentioned in the Bible they are usually identified as some other type of flower including oleander, Nerium oleander L., mentioned in Apocryphal book of Ecclesiasticus 39:13, Narcissus
tazetta L., in Isaiah 35:1, Tulipasharonensis Dinsm., in Song of Solomon 2:1, although for both of these same Hebrew term is used in each case. An exception where a rose is a rose is R. phoenicia Boiss. that is mentioned in the Apocryphal book of II Esdras 2:19, while the dog rose and hybrid roses are included and/or substituted in Biblical gardens. Common names increase the confusion because the tulip is called rose of Sharon while this is also a common name for shrub althea, Hibiscus syriacus L., (mostly in America English), and a St. John's-wort, Hypericum calycinum L., (mostly in British and Australian English) that is also called Aaron's beard. Other likely candidates for rose of Sharon include Crocus L., Madonna Lily, Lilium Liliumcandidum L., and most likely sea daffodil, Pancratiummaritimum L., which is similar to our spider lilies, HymenocallisSalisb., since they were once in the same genus. This discussion continues with lilies since there is just as much confusion about the identities of those mentioned in the Bible.
Some people use rose hips for food. One of the most notable ways is for the high vitamin C content thus the inclusion in natural vitamin C tablets.
