Rosa for the Environment

ABSTRACT Recently, increasing attention is being paid to the use of ornamental plants within the context of environmental technologies such as biomonitoring and phytoremediation. Different aspects concerning the potential of Rosa plants in this context have been reviewed here. The tolerance of a number of Rosa species towards critical environments and their usefulness as active biomonitors of some metals originated from either soil or air sources have recently been found. Rosa rugosa pollen was demonstrated to be an effective and more precocious indicator of environmental pollutants than vegetative plant portions. Moreover, Rosa flowers and seeds are efficient as biosorbents in removing metals from contaminated water, thus representing low cost biomasses available for an environmentally-friendly use. These studies demonstrate that a wide array of significant benefits may be derived from ornamental horticultural products, in addition to the fact that they represent a useful resource for people’s psychological well-being and recovery from stress.