Rosa laevigata, the Cherokee rose,[1] is a white, fragrant rose native to southern China and Taiwan south to Laos and Vietnam, and invasive in the United States.

Rosa laevigata
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Rosids
Order:	Rosales
Family:	Rosaceae
Genus:	Rosa
Species:	R. laevigata
Binomial name
Rosa laevigata Michx.

Description

It is an evergreen climbing shrub, scrambling over other shrubs and small trees to heights of up to 5–10 metres (16–33 ft). The leaves are 3–10 centimetres (1.2–3.9 in) long, with usually three leaflets, sometimes five leaflets, bright glossy green and glabrous. The flowers are 6–10 centimetres (2.4–3.9 in) diameter, fragrant, with pure white petals and yellow stamens, and are followed by bright red and bristly hips 2–4 centimetres (0.79–1.57 in) diameter. The flower stem is also very bristly.

Cultivation

The species was introduced to the southeastern United States in about 1780, where it soon became naturalized, and where it gained its English name.

Cultural references

The flower is commonly associated with the Trail of Tears, the forced relocation of Native Americans in the southeastern United States. Its white petals are said to represent the tears the Cherokee women shed[2] during the period of great hardship and grief throughout US government-forced march from the Cherokees' home to U.S. forts, such as Gilmer. The flower's gold center is said to symbolize the gold taken from the Cherokee tribe.[3]

It is the state flower of Georgia.

In popular culture

The flower is referenced in The Walking Dead episode of the same name by Daryl Dixon in an attempt to comfort Carol Peletier, who at this time had lost her daughter.

References

• Flora of China: Rosa laevigata

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