T 
~LHE world loves a rose and in return 
for this love a rose bestows the joy of its beauty, 
the sweetness of its perfume, and the serenity of 
its life. From earliest times, the rose has played 
a part in the art, poetry, and traditions of the 
people, and occupies an important place in the 
legends of the saints. According to the botanist, 
the rose was born in Persia and was introduced 
into Europe by Alexander the Great. Later, the 
Crusaders brought different species from the 
East all of which flourished abundantly in the 
western lands. Legends pertaining to the origin 
of the red rose go back as far as the time of 
Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. One 
legend tells that the red rose was originally 
white and was made red when it blushed with 
joy as Eve kissed it in the Garden of Eden. 
A very old Greek legend relates how red roses 
sprang from the thorns that were made crimson 
when they pricked the feet of Venus as she ran 
through the forest looking for Adonis. It is in 
Persia that the nightingale begins to sing when 
the roses blow. All night he expresses his love 
for the rose and when daybreak comes, being 
overcome by fatigue and the sweet perfume of 
the flower, drops to the ground underneath the 
bush. One day, when the ardent nightingale 
learned that Allah had made the rose the queen 
of flowers, he flew toward the fragrant flower 
and thrusting his breast against one of the 
thorns shed his blood over the petals, thus 
changing them to red. The rose is the national 
flower of England and the state flower of New 
York. Its significance in England goes back to 
the Wars of the Roses which began in 1450. 
As a declaration of war, white and red roses 
were plucked from the Temple garden in 
London and used as emblems for the contend¬ 
ing houses of York and Lancaster. These roses 
were worn in the caps of contestants or pictured 
on shields and armor to designate the factions. 
At the end of the war, when the house of York 
and the house of Lancaster were united by mar¬ 
riage, a rose bush in a monastery garden in 
Wilts that up to this time had produced white 
roses on some branches and red roses on others 
now burst forth with a rose that had both white 
and red petals—a symbol of the peace that had 
been established between the two houses. 
Thus, through the ages, the rose has been 
identified with love and romance; peace 
and war; victory and reward. 
