rock-rose
[rock n.1]
† 1. ? A variety of Daphne Cneorum. Obs.
| 1629 Parkinson Parad. 397 Cneorum Matthioli, Small Rocke Roses. |
2. A plant of the genus
Helianthemum or
Cistus (formerly united in the Linnæan genus
Cistus),
esp. H. vulgare. (See also
cistus.)
| 1731 Miller Gard. Dict. s.v. Cistus, The Male Cistus or Rock Rose, with oblong hoary Leaves. 1753 Chambers Cycl. Suppl. App., Rock-rose, a name sometimes given to the Cistus of botanists. 1825 Hogg Queen Hynde 14 The day-breeze play'd in eddies weak, And waved the rock-rose to her cheek. 1846 Lindley Veget. Kingd. 350 South Europe and the north of Africa are the countries that Rock Roses chiefly inhabit. 1882 Garden 10 June 405/2 Rock Roses (Helianthemum) give also striking masses of various colours—golden yellow, rose, and salmon-coloured. |
| attrib. 1841 Penny Cycl. XX. 53/2 Almost all the Rock-rose tribe (Cistaceæ) may be grown with success on rock⁓work. 1861 Bentley Man. Bot. 455 Cistaceæ.—The Rock-Rose Order. |
3. Australian rock-rose, a plant of the genus
Hibbertia.
| 1889 in Cent. Dict. s.v. Hibbertia. |
4. N. Amer. The bitter root,
Lewisia rediviva, a small perennial herb belonging to the family Portulacaceæ, native to western North America, and bearing solitary pink or white flowers.
| 1906 Contrib. U.S. Nat. Herbarium XI. 49 The rock⁓rose or bitterroot..occurs abundantly in crevices of ‘scab’, making a brave show with its beautiful rose-colored flowers. 1963 Beaver Autumn 53/1 The rolling hills, cactus and rock roses..flooded the dry land with character and colour. 1973 R. D. Symons Where Wagon Led i. v. 77 We should find some rock roses here. |
5. An aggregate of tabular crystals of a mineral suggestive of the petals of a rose;
= rose n. 16 e,
rosette n. 5 e.
| 1933 Amer. Mineralogist XVIII. 261 The barite occurs as sand barites or barite rosettes (locally called ‘rock roses’) and barite accretions. 1962 W. A. Deer et al. Rock-Forming Minerals V. 193 Concretions of barytes in sandstone sometimes take the form of rosettes known as ‘sand barites’, ‘rock roses’ or ‘desert roses’. 1977 A. Hallam Planet Earth 85 (caption) Desert roses (or rock roses) display one of the more unusual modes of occurrence of evaporitic minerals... Found..only in arid areas, these clusters of platy crystals are typically of barite or gypsum. |