The Rose
Roses are one of the most popular garden shrubs and are also
among the most common flowers sold by florists. Roses are of great
economic importance both as a crop for florists' use and for use in
perfume.
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| The Cherokee Rose |
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Many thousands of rose hybrids and cultivars have been bred and
selected for garden use, mostly double-flowered with many or all of
the stamens mutated into additional petals. Twentieth-century rose
breeders generally emphasized size and color, producing large,
attractive blooms with little or no scent. Many wild and
"old-fashioned" roses, by contrast, have a strong sweet scent.
Roses are ancient symbols of love and beauty. The rose was
sacred to a number of goddesses, and is often used as a symbol of
the Virgin Mary. Roses are so important that the word means pink or
red in a variety of languages (such as the Romance languages,
Greek, and Polish).
A red rose (often held in a hand) is also a symbol of socialism
or social democracy; it is also used as a symbol by the United
Kingdom Labour Party, as well as by the French, Spanish (Spanish
Socialist Workers' Party), Portuguese, Norwegian, Danish, Swedish,
Finnish, Brazilian, Dutch (Partij van de Arbeid) and European
socialist parties. This originates from the red rose being used as
a badge by the marchers in the May 1968 street protests in
Paris.
The Cherokee Rose
This climbing rose has stems up to 20 feet long with vicious
recurved thorns. These stems often take root if left on the ground.
The evergreen leaves are made up of 3 (rarely 5) finely toothed
leaflets, which help distinguish it from the Chickasaw Rose (Rosa
bracteata).
Each flower is about 3 inches in diameter. It is nearly flat and
consists of 5 white petals (sometimes slightly pink), with a
cluster of yellow stamens in the center. Each blossom is borne
singly on a lateral branch.
Cherokee Rose has a short blooming season in late March and
April. The fruit is pear-shaped and bristly. It can occasionally be
found growing along roadsides, in fence rows, and waste places in
the Coastal Plains and Piedmont of the deep South.
The same species grows in China and Japan. It is said to have
been found by the early white explorers on their first arrival at
the American Indian villages of the Cherokees and Creeks. Dr.
Charles Mohr wrote that it is often impossible to decide whether a
plant should be considered naturalized or native, particularly when
every trace is obliterated of the time and manner in which it may
have been introduced.
The Cherokee Rose is the State Flower of Georgia.
Legend of the Cherokee Rose
When the Trail of Tears
started in 1838, the mothers of the Cherokee were grieving and
crying so much, they were unable to help their children survive the
journey. The elders prayed for a sign that would lift the mother’s
spirits to give them strength. The next day a beautiful rose began
to grow where each of the mother’s tears fell. The rose is white
for their tears; a gold center represents the gold taken from
Cherokee lands, and seven leaves on each stem for the seven
Cherokee clans. The wild Cherokee Rose grows along the route of the
Trail of Tears into eastern Oklahoma today.
The Cache
The cache is located near the site of the former Jean-Luc
Charboneau cache. I inadvertantly revealed the coord when posting a
reviewer note, so I declared this to be the Bread and Roses 5
cache.
Very little bushwhacking is needed. Note, this area has been
logged recently and the woods are not what you've come to expect
from a Lake Massabesic cache. It will be interesting to see how the
area changes over the next years. The rotting branches should
provide for great mushrooms and the extra light will bring in
different species of trees. I know on the Cape the Pine gives way
to Oak which gives way to Beech. It will be interesting to watch
what happens here.
Note: Early logs will be deleted.