Rose Facts for Kids

A Picture of a Rose
  • Plant Name: Rose
  • Plant Type: Flowering Plant
  • Plant Genus: Rosa
  • Plant Family: Rosaceae
  • Plant Order: Rosales
  • Total Species: 360+

25 Rose Facts for Kids

  1. Rose is the common name for several hundred flowering plants in the Rosa genus.
  2. The Rosa genus is a part of the Rosaceae plant family.
  3. Roses are arguably the most popular flower in the world. Around the world their beauty is used to as a symbol of love, romance, friendship, sympathy and sorrow.
  4. There are over 300 plant species that use the common name rose under the Rosa genus.
  5. Roses are perennial plants, that means they continuously grow year after year without needing to be replanted.
  6. Roses typically have dark green stems that have very sharp prickles (sharp thrones).
  7. The prickles on a rose bush help protect it from animals, they assist in grabbing and climbing.
  8. All species of roses have flowers with five petals, except for silky rose (Rosa sericea), it only has four petals.
  9. The flower of a rose plant can come in a wide range of shapes, sizes and colors.
  10. Some rose species that are classified as climbers can reach over 20 feet in height.
  11. A few of the colors a rose can be include, but aren’t limited to red, pink, yellow and white.
  12. Roses are a popular ornamental plant inside of homes and in gardens.
  13. The sweet briar (Rosa rubiginosa) rose is grown in gardens for its favorable scent.
  14. The redleaf rose (Rosa glauca) is grown in gardens for its remarkable beauty.
  15. The silky rose (Rosa sericea) is grown in gardens for its amazing bright red thorns.
  16. The moyes rose (rosa moyesii) is grown in gardens for its unique fruit.
  17. Roses are a popular gift human give to each other and the color of the roses have a specific meaning.
  18. For example, red roses are given to someone you love and as a sign of romance.
  19. Another example, white roses are given to someone you care about and as a sign of friendship.
  20. Oil is extracted from the petals of roses to create rose oil, which is then used in cosmetic fragrances.
  21. Rose water is a popular beverage made by steeping rose petals in water.
  22. The oldest living rose is a dog rose (Rosa canina) bush that is over 1,000 years old. It’s found on the apse of the Hildesheim Cathedral in Germany.
  23. The oldest fossil evidence of a rose was found in Colorado and was estimated to be 35 million years old.
  24. The Juliet rose is the most expensive rose on the market. It was cultivated in 2006 by David Austin over a period of 15 years and at a cost of $5 million dollars.
  25. In 1986, the rose became the floral emblem of the United States of America.

Additional Resources on Roses

  • The History of Roses – Discover the history of roses on the University of Illinois website.
  • Rose List A to Z – View a comprehensive list of rose flower species on the Florgeous website.
  • Pictures of Roses – Look at some amazing pictures of roses on the Flickr website.
  • Roses – Wikipedia – Read more about roses and the Rosa genus on the Wikipedia website.

About the author
Facts Editor

This is an author profile for articles that are created from a collaborative effort. It is not uncommon that articles on this site were either written, researched or fact checked by several authors and team members. So this author profile will be displayed to reflect that. Our team of editors, writers and fact checkers do extensive research before publishing articles on the site, and we do our best to provide the most accurate information possible.