Economic and ecological importance

Fruit species

Rosaceae is perhaps the third most economically important group, after Poaceae, or the grass family, and Fabales, or the legume order. While no member of Rosaceae is a staple food, the diets of many people are enriched by its fruits. Cherries, peaches, apricots, nectarines, plums, and almonds are fruits from species of Prunus, and blackberries, raspberries, loganberries, and dewberries are species from Rubus.

Apples, pears, quinces, and strawberries also belong to the rose family. Apples (Malus domestica) make up about half the fruit-tree production in temperate climates. Contrary to the popular saying “as American as apple pie,” the commercially grown apple is a native of the Old World, probably originating in western Asia. While more than 6,500 varieties of apples have been named, very few are widely available for sale in supermarkets.

Pears (Pyrus communis) have long been a favourite fruit in Europe, and they have become more popular in North America as a wider selection of juicy and flavourful varieties have been grown commercially.

Quinces (Cydonia oblonga) are better appreciated in the warmer parts of Europe than in North America. The flesh of quince is extremely fragrant but hard, gritty, and generally too tart to eat fresh; hence, most quince is made into jelly, jam, and marmalade. In Turkey, finely ground quince pulp is mixed with sugar, cooked, and spread out to dry, forming the gummy or jellylike confection known as Turkish delight.

The cultivated strawberry is a favourite fruit, but the modern cultivated strawberry is very different from the wild types. About a dozen species of strawberries are distributed in the north temperate zone, extending southward in the mountain ranges of Central and South America. Among the plants that explorers sent back to Europe in the mid-18th century were wild strawberries (Fragaria chiloensis) from Chile. These proved to be barren in European gardens because the plants that were sent had only female flowers. Meanwhile, wild strawberry plants (F. virginiana) from the eastern United States were sent to France. In a botanical garden in Paris, it was found that pollen of the latter would cause the Chilean strawberry to set fruit. Plants grown from the seeds of these fruits produced much larger fruit, and it was realized that a new hybrid type of strawberry had developed (Fragaria ×ananassa). Modern cultivated strawberries are developed from this hybrid and similar crosses between these two wild species.

Originally from central China, loquat (Eriobotrya japonica) is widely cultivated in southern Florida, in California, and in warm regions throughout the world. The succulent yellow-orange fruits are about 5 cm (2 inches) long, have a pleasant, mildly acidic taste, and are eaten fresh, stewed, or used to make jelly and jam. A liqueur is made from the fruits in Bermuda. A delicately flavoured jelly can be made from the partly ripe fruits.

Besides providing food for humans, the fruits of many members of the rose family are important elements in the diets of wildlife. The fleshy fruits of Sorbus (mountain ashes), Prunus (cherries and plums), Malus (crab apples), Crataegus (hawthorns), and Amelanchier (shadbush) are relished by birds, and strawberries are a favourite food of turtles and other ground-dwelling animals. The thick, dense thorny plants of hawthorns and brambles provide excellent cover for wild animals. In the dry areas of western North America, Cercocarpus (mountain mahogany), Cowania (cliff rose), and Purshia (bitterbrush) are important browse plants for deer and other mammals.

Ornamental species

A large number of ornamental plants widely cultivated in temperate regions belong to Rosaceae. Small- to medium-size trees and shrubs grown for their flowers or fruit include spirea, meadowsweet, and hardhack from Spiraea; Exochorda (pearlbush); Rhodotypos (jetbread); Malus (apples, crab apples); Prunus (cherry); Amelanchier (serviceberry); Cotoneaster (cotoneaster); Pyracantha (fire thorns); mountain ashes, rowan trees, and whitebeams from Sorbus; Photinia; and Heteromeles (Christmas berry).

None of these plants, however, is more widespread or appreciated than the cultivated roses (genus Rosa), which have long been one of the favourite flowers of peoples of many lands and cultures. Roses often figure in song, poetry, literature, painting, and even historical events; the cottage rose (Rosa ×alba) was adopted as a symbol by the Yorkists in the English Wars of the Roses. There are perhaps 120 species of wild roses, and over the centuries humans have deliberately selected and bred these wild roses to produce a wide variety of cultivated roses.

The roses commonly grown today fall into several categories. Many wild species, or direct descendants of them, are grown as species roses. Examples include Austrian Copper rose (Rosa foetida, variety bicolor); Father Hugo rose (R. hugonis); saltspray, or rugosa, rose (R. rugosa); red-leaved rose (R. rubifolia); Scotch rose (R. spinosissima); and Harison’s yellow rose, or yellow-rose-of-Texas (Rosa ×harisonii). Old roses, as a group, are various sports, mutations, or hybrids of species roses. A few types of old roses are the alba, or cottage, roses, derived from Rosa ×alba; the damasks, originating from R. damascena; the French, or gallica, roses, from R. gallica; the hybrid musks, from R. moschata; and the cabbage, or Provence, roses, from R. centifolia. The moss rose, with its sepals and flower stalks covered with dense mosslike hairs, is a mutation of the cabbage rose.

Perhaps the most familiar cultivated roses are the hybrid teas. These are of complex hybrid origins, involving up to seven wild species. In this breeding process, roses from East Asia were crossed with those from Europe. The flowers of Asiatic roses have urn-shaped buds, high-centred open flowers, and a peppery scent or the fragrance of crushed tea leaves. The Asiatic roses blossom heavily throughout the growing season, but they cannot withstand extreme winter temperatures. Some have a rather vinelike climbing habit. European roses, on the other hand, are much more winter-hardy, usually produce only one flush of blooms in the spring, and have flat flowers with little fragrance. The Bourbon, Portland, hybrid China, tea, and hybrid perpetual roses are the products of the many crosses made between Asiatic and European roses. Hybrid tea roses emerged primarily from crosses between tea and hybrid perpetual roses.

Floribunda roses, with clusters of numerous rather small flowers, have their basic origin in crosses between hybrid teas and ultimately R. multiflora, while grandiflora roses are hybrids between floribundas and hybrid teas. Consequently, grandifloras have flowers that are larger and less numerous than floribundas but that are smaller and more plentiful than hybrid teas.

Today, garden roses have a wide range of colours, but this was not always the case. In the 19th century, roses exhibited a continuous range from white to pink through dark mauve-red, with some soft yellows. The first bright yellow garden rose was introduced in the early 1900s, as a result of hybridizing the cultivated variety Antoine Ducher with the Persian yellow rose (R. foetida, variety persiana). While people often speak of “red” roses, true bright red roses are a relatively recent phenomenon. There are no wild species of roses with red flowers; in fact, red flowers are absent from the whole rose family. This is because the family lacked the gene for the pure red pelargonidin pigment. However, a natural genetic mutation occurred about 1930 that produced pelargonidin. Through rose-breeding programs, this gene was rapidly incorporated into modern cultivated roses, resulting in the vibrant red colours seen today.

One flower colour still missing in roses (both wild and cultivated) is blue, again because the gene for producing the proper pigment, delphinidin in the case of blue, is lacking in the rose family. Scientists are currently attempting to use genetic engineering methods to transfer the delphinidin gene from Petunia (petunias, family Solanaceae) or Delphinium (delphiniums, family Ranunculaceae) to roses.

Flowers of certain roses are wonderfully fragrant. Rose petals from the damask rose (Rosa damascena) or the cabbage rose (R. centifolia) are placed in a still and subjected to distillation, which extracts the volatile oils and produces attar of roses, a major ingredient in many perfumes. It is costly to produce: 4,000 kg (8,800 pounds) of rose flowers yield only a single kilogram of attar of roses. The water that remains after distillation has some rose fragrance and is sold as rose water. Dried rose petals kept in potpourri jars or among clothing items slowly release their fragrance.

Perennial borders contain many herbaceous representatives of the rose order. A few garden favourites are Aruncus dioicus (goatsbeard), Agrimonia (agrimony), Alchemilla (lady’s mantle), Dalibarda (Indian strawberry), Geum (avens), Filipendula (queen of the prairie, meadowsweet, and dropwort), Potentilla (cinquefoil), and Sanguisorba (burnet).

Wood

The wood of Prunus serotina (black cherry) and P. avium (European wild, or sweet, cherry) is used to make high-quality furniture, and the wood of Pyrus communis (pear) is also highly valued. The wood of black cherry, native to North America, has a reddish brown colour and a warm luster when finished. It resists shrinkage and warping and has excellent working properties. Black cherry is a favourite wood for furniture, paneling, woodenware, tool handles, and musical instruments. Wood of the European wild cherry is brownish with a golden sheen and is used for high-quality furniture, either as solid cherrywood or cherry veneer.

Pearwood has a rich pinkish red colour and a very smooth grain. Because pearwood has a smooth, hard, and stable surface, it was formerly widely used for rulers, T-squares, and drawing boards. Although plastics have generally replaced it for these uses, pearwood is still used for bowls and other kinds of wooden tableware and in making veneers. Because of its colour, pearwood is often used in marquetry work.

Malus domestica (apple) produces wood that is reddish brown, hard, and rather heavy. It is prone to warping and splitting if not dried carefully, but properly cured applewood is used in the heads of the best golf clubs.

Chemicals

Many plants from the rose family are used locally as medicines in different parts of the world. Although several remedies have been ascribed to these plants, it remains to be proved scientifically that more than a few have therapeutic value. A tea or infusion made from Fragaria (strawberries), Holodiscus discolor (ocean spray) flowers, and the bark of Malus fusca (crab apple) was used by Native Americans in Washington state to treat diarrhea. Other North American Indians used decoctions from blackberries and raspberries for the same purpose. Agrimonia eupatoria (common agrimony) from Europe was looked upon in past ages as a general cure for any sort of wound or snakebite and for wart removal, liver ailments, and diarrhea.

Plants of a number of species of the rose family contain dangerous cyanide compounds called cyanogenetic glycosides (glycosides capable of releasing hydrogen cyanide gas upon hydrolysis). The best known is amygdalin, which upon hydrolysis yields sugar, benzaldehyde, and cyanide. Benzaldehyde is a nonpoisonous compound providing almond, or amaretto, flavour and aroma. Cyanide, however, is a dangerous poison that blocks the activity of an enzyme that is directly involved in oxygen uptake during respiration, resulting in cyanosis and asphyxiation. Amygdalin develops in the seeds and pits of many plants, including cherries, plums, apricots, and apples. Hence, these seeds are potentially dangerous when consumed in quantity. Peach pits, bitter almonds, and several kinds of wild cherry are poisonous to animals and humans. Almonds, which come from the pits of Prunus amygdalus, are of two kinds, bitter and sweet. Almond oil, used for flavouring, is extracted from the bitter almond. The crude oil contains considerable amygdalin and is poisonous, but this is removed during refining. The almonds eaten as nuts come from sweet almond varieties, which do not contain amygdalin and are safe to eat. Cyanogenic compounds also appear in the leaves of many of the rose family. Wilted or damaged leaves contain the highest concentrations. The foliage of Prunus virginiana (chokecherry), P. serotina (wild black cherry), and species of Cercocarpus (mountain mahogany) are sometimes fatal to browsing animals.