Indian Roses 1984

India Rose

December 23, 1984

Complete set of 2 special postage stamps on Roses of India : Mrinalini and Sugandha :

Issued by India

Issued on Dec 23, 1984

Issued for : The Indian Posts & Telegraphs is proud to celebrate the beauty of rose, and is releasing these two special postage stamps as a tribute to the rose breeders of our country and all lovers of roses around the world.

Description of Design : The stamp has been designed by India Security Press, Nasik based on photographs provided by the Rose Society of India. The first day cover, features the rose Raktangadha. The cancellation has been designed by Nenu Bagga.

Type : Stamps, Postal Used

Colour : Multi colour

Denomination : 150 & 200 Paise

About :

This beauteous flower, Rose, has a universal appeal. Poets, craftsmen and painters have found joy and inspiration in the range of colours, form, substance and fragrance this exquisite flower offers. While the ancestry of rose can be traced to earliest fossil remains, its imposing advent is unmistakably with the arrival of the Hybrid Tea, celebrated for its classic form and range of colours. Man has taken over from Nature and the new creations of hybridisers continue to be a source of marvel and delight.
History of roses in India dates back to 334-323 BC when it is reported that Alexander the Great in his epic drive to the borders of India sent one of the newly discovered rose plants back to his mentor Aristotle and to ancient Greece. Later during the Moghul period too, the legendary gardens at Samarkhand and at the famous monument of Taj Mahal, roses were present. It is to India that the world owes the discovery of otto or ‘attar‘ of roses. Empress Nur Jahan once noticed an oily film floating on the surface of her favourite rose water bath. This substance was separated and distilled and rose oil or attar was discovered.
While, roses have been popular in India through legend and poetry, in recent times roses of Indian origin introduced by hybridisers in India have attracted attention world-wide. Rose breeding started early in the first half of the century and one of the earliest breeders was Bhattacharji (BS) the well-known nurseryman of Deogarh. Scientific rose breeding on modern lines started during the nineteen sixties at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) New Delhi.
There are three popular varieties of modern roses viz. (i) Hybrid Teas (HT for short), which produce large flowers on single long stems, (ii) Floribundas which produce clusters of medium sized flowers and (iii) Miniatures, which are small and exact replicas of HTs.
In India there are today, over three hundred varieties developed locally, prominent amongst these are ‘Raja Ram Mohan Roy‘ (A.M. Bhattacharji, 1959) apricot coloured, ‘Sugandha’, again a richly fragrant variety from S.M. Bhattacharji (1964), the pristine pure white ‘Dr Homi Bhabha‘ (Pal, 1968), a lovely red and silver ‘Srinivasa‘ (Kasturirangan 1969), the ‘Banjaran‘, a brilliant red and gold (Pal, 1969) and many bewitching ones – ‘Bhim‘, ‘Jawahar‘, ‘Mrinalini‘, ‘Mohini‘ from the IARI.
The varieties selected for the present issue of stamps i.e. ‘MRINALINI’ and ‘SUGANDHA’ are two of the finest examples of roses developed in India.
‘MRINALINI‘ (IARI 1974): A hybrid seedling from the cross of ‘Pink Parfait’ and ‘Christian Dior’ (HT). Phlox pink, long pointed buds open to very large (10 cm diameter across), well formed blooms on long stem. The flowers are long lasting and borne on vigorous growing bushes (plant height 85 cms) producing about 60 blooms in a season from December to April.
‘SUGANDHA‘ (Bhattacharji 1964): long pointed buds, ranging from pure red to scarlet, opening into large loose flowers on medium tall, upright growing bush. The flowers are gloriously scented and tend to droop. However, flowers on strong shoots attain exhibition quality.
Text courtesy
Friends of the Roses Bombay and Rose Society of India – New Delhi.