Rosa gallica "Officinalis" - the Apothecary Rose

Rose gallica is a European wild rose, a small shrub (usually less that 4 ft) and by convention considered red (actually more a deep reddish pink). A semi-double form "Officinalis" (see photograph, left) is one of the earliest recoded cultivated roses. It has many names, for instance: "The Provins Rose" (after the beautiful medieval town of Provins just outside Paris), or simply "The Red Rose". It is also the rose with the best claim to being the "Red Rose of Lancaster", the symbol of one of the warring factions in the wars of the roses.

The semi-double form is said to have originated in Damascus and been taken from thence by the crusader King Theobald in 1240 - taken back to his castle at Provins hence the name "Provins rose".

It has a fruity (rather than musky) scent, similar to the scent of Rosa damascena, and is a lovely garden plant. Its small size means that it can easily be used in flower borders and even to edge them, as it can be clipped into a lax low hedge. In Hidcote garden in England the striped form "Versicolor" has been used like this - to fabulous effect.

During the 19th century it spawned many sports and hybrids. The best of these (and all are my favourites!) are: "Belle de Crécy", "Cardinal de Richelieu" "Charles de Mills" and "Tuscany Superb". However, there is much to be said for the true original Apothecary Rose, and even for the wild single red rose. In Miss Jekyll's time the gallica roses were considered dépassé. She wrote about them only briefly in her chapter on the "Old Garden Roses":

"[The rose] Provins is Rosa gallica, the garden kinds being mostly striped; pretty, but not of the first importance..."

Being such an ancient variety, it became firmly embedded in medieval European culture. The red rose (Rosa gallica) and the lily (Lilium candidum) are described by the monk Walafrid Strabo (808 - 849 CE) in his poem "Hortulus". He makes it clear that the red of Rosa gallica had entered into Christian iconography as symbolizing the blood of the martyrs.

"These two flowers, well loved and honoured far and wide

Down many centuries have stood as emblems

Of the greatest treasures of the Church - the Rose plucked

As a sign of the blood shed by the blessed martyrs;

The Lily worn as a shining symbol of faith."

Similarly, when Hubert van Eyck (c. 1385 – 1426) set out to paint the great altarpiece at Ghent ("The Adoration of the Lamb"), his panel depicting the male martyrs has them standing by a red rose, using the same symbolism described by Strabo. It is commonly assumed that the red rose was also a symbol of Christ's passion. Actually there is little evidence of this. The standard symbol of the Passion during the Middle Ages was the heraldic pelican - pecking its breast to feed its young with its own blood.

The name "Apothecary rose" signifies correctly that this was by far the most important rose in ancient medicine. Nicholas Culpeper (1616 - 1654) in his Complete Herbal, always quick to criticise his contemporaries, says (mischievously):

"What a pother have authors made with roses! What a racket have they kept? I shall add, red Roses [Rosa gallica] are under Jupiter, Damask [R. damascena] under Venus, White [R. alba] under the moon and Provence [R. centifolia] under the King of France."