Family : Rosaceae

English : Rose

Hindi : Gulab

Gujarati : Moshmee gulab

Sanskrit : Karnika

Part used : Flower

Botanical Description: A small erect prickly shrub with unequal large hooked prickles and many bristles, leaves compound, alternate, leaflets usually 5, rachis not prickly, flowers usually pink, double on long slender pedicles , calyx tubes globose, ovoid, the mouth contracted, lobes 4-5, imbricate, petals many, stamens many inserted on the mouth of the calyx tube; carpels many in the bottom of the calyx tube, style subterminal, free, stigma thickened, ovules solitary, pendulous, fruit a fleshy hip enclosing bony achenes; seeds small. Flowering throughout the year.

It is cultivated throughout India.

Modern Pharmacological Action: This plant is not explored still now, but traditionally it is used in treatment of diabetes, conjunctivitis in aroma therapy, it’s used in Chinese herbal medicine as antibacterial agent. The essential oil obtained from Rosa centifolia is reported to have gastro intestinal relaxant activity; therefore the bronchodilatory effect of extracts obtained from this plant could be responsible for its anti-tussive property.