# Red roses (Rosa gallica)

**Rose rosse**

**Known today as.** Dried petals of *Rosa gallica*.

Kind: Plant

## What did Canale use it for?

In the oil (ch. 9).

## What does modern science say?

Rich in tannins, and fragrant. The petals hold tannins, anthocyanins, and a little of the oil, so the astringency is real; rose water and oil of roses are the perfumer’s, and the apothecary’s syrup survives as a flavouring.

## Pharmacognosy and toxicology

- **citronellol and geraniol**: the rose oil
- **tannins**: the astringency of the petal
- **anthocyanins**: the colour
- **phenylethyl alcohol**: 

**Mechanism.** The red rose of the apothecary, *Rosa gallica*, dried for its astringent and cordial petals: the tannins tighten, the scent is the perfume, and the sugar of the conserve was the vehicle. See the rose.

**Dose.** Safe.

**Standing.** A flavour and perfume; the hip, not the petal, has the vitamin C.

## What lore surrounds it?

*Rosa gallica*, the apothecary’s rose, was grown by the acre at Provins near Paris from the thirteenth century for the dried petals, and the Provins conserve was sold across Europe; the petals keep their colour and scent dried, which the white and damask roses do not. See [the rose](https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/rose) in the Symbolarium.

## What did the older authorities say?

**Mesue.** The Arabic pharmacy made the red rose a cold and dry medicine of the first degree, astringent and cordial: the petals in conserve and syrup for the heart, the liver, and the fluxes, and the distilled water for the eyes.

**Culpeper.** Says the red rose strengthens the heart, stomach, and liver, and that the conserve of red roses “is a very good cordial” against faintness and the consumption.

## Sources

- Culpeper, N. (1653). *Pharmacopœia Londinensis*.
- Mesue, *Grabadin*.
- Boskabady, M. H., et al. (2011). “Pharmacological effects of *Rosa damascena*.” *Iranian Journal of Basic Medical Sciences* 14.

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*Red roses.* In *Materia Medica*, edited by B. C. P. Statema. Version 1, revised 2026-10-01. The Thinking Press. https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/red-roses

Historical description, not medical advice.