Fun Fact Friday, Wk 29

Halloooo All

Happy Valentine’s Day !

Our Fun Fact today is based on Roses which is quite appropriate considering the day.

The rose is a symbol for love, celebration and beauty and has a long history playing an important role in civilisation for centuries. With over 100 different species of Roses which can be found in different shades of white, yellow, pink, orange and Red they hold a charm of their own with their beauty and fragrance.

Fun historical facts coming up; Roses were very significant to the Romans as they would use them as room decorations, or even wear them on string around their neck and anything which was said “under the rose” was deemed to be a secret. A rose hung above a meeting place would pledge all those attending to secrecy. This is where we get the expression ‘sub rosa’ – meaning held in secret.

The War of the Roses was a civil war in England that lasted from 1455-1487. The House of York adopted a white rose, the House of Lancaster decided to take a red rose. The winner of this war, Tudor Henry VII, merged his Lancastrian rose with the red rose of his York bride and thus created the Tudor Rose, the Rose of England. The Tudor rose was used as a symbol of peace and today it is used as the symbol of England, just as Scotland uses a thistle.

The rose also grows into a fruit. The fruit is called a Rose Hip and is full of Vitamin C. It is shaped like a berry and most are red in color but you can find black and dark purple versions.

I’ll just throw in one more rose-related fact; Rose oil is an important ingredient in the perfume industry. Extraction of minimal amount of this oil requires huge amount of roses (one gram of oil is produced from two thousand roses). The nice scent of the rose comes from microscopic perfume glands on the petals.

Enjoy your weekends all