Sweetness Rose — Print

Beautiful scents

Roses are not just red—we all know that by observing the diversity of the hundreds of species. But why are they red sometimes, and other times shades of red?

Flower colours, as we observe them, are what our eyes can see as reflected light. Pigments in flowers like roses absorb light of different wavelengths, and what is not absorbed, but reflected, is what we see. The variegated colours seen here in this rose arise from the pigment anthocyanin being turned on in some petal cells, but not others.

Pollinators see flowers different to how we do. But many cultivated roses (perhaps like the one seen here), although visually beautiful, may not attract pollinators like bees, as they lack pollen.

So why do these roses have beautiful petals? Roses are not just valued by humans for their beauty, but also their fragrance. The rose scent in wild roses is produced by cells in the rose petals because a specific enzyme is turned on; this scent attracts bees. Many cultivated varieties have lost this gene because these roses have been bred for their colours, for our benefit. Which would you prefer?