By Lydia O'shea

Ragged Robin - "Wit."

Ranunculus - "You are radiant with charms." Ranunculus (wild) - "Ingratitude." Rhododendron - "Danger," "beware." From two Greek words - "Rhodon" (rose-coloured), and "dendron" (a tree).

Rocket - "Rivalry."

Rose - "Love." Probably no other flower has been enriched with more legends than the rose. Mythology tells us that its birth was simultaneous with that of Venus, the goddess of love. Sir John Mandeville gives us a Christian version: Zillah, a beautiful Jewish convert at Bethlehem, was condemned to be burnt. But God averted the flames, and the stake to which she was bound budded, so that she stood unharmed under a rose-tree, full of white and red roses.

Rose (Austrian) - "Thou art all that is lovely." Rose (Boule de Nege) - "Only for thee." Rose (bridal) - "Happy love." Rose (Burgundy) - "Unconscious beauty." Rose (cabbage) - "Ambassador of love." Rose (Campion) - "Only deserve my love." Rose (Carolina) - "Love is dangerous." Rose (China) - "Beauty always new." Rose (daily) - "Thy smile I aspire to." Rose (damask) - "Brilliant complexion." Rose (deep red) - "Bashful shame." Tradition says that originally all roses were white, and gives two versions (pagan and Christian) for their red colouring. According to the first, Venus, in her haste to assist Adonis, trod upon the thorns of a white rose, and the blossoms were dyed crimson from her blood. A more dainty version is that when Eve, in Paradise, first beheld the white rose, she bent to kiss the flower, which, directly it received the impression of her lips, blushed a rosy red.

Rose (dog) - "Pleasure and pain."

Rose (Gloire de Dijon) - "A messenger of love."

Rose (hundred-leaved) - "Pride."

Rose (Japan) - "Beauty is your only attraction."

Rose (John Hopper) - "Encouragement."

Rose (La France) - "Meet me by moonlight."

Rose (maiden blush) - "If you love me you will find it out."

Rose (musk) - "Capricious beauty."

Rose (Nephitos) - "Infatuation."

Rose (single) - "Simplicity."

Rose (thornless) - "Early attachment."

Rose (white) - "I am worthy of you."

Rose (yellow) - "Decrease of love," "jealousy," "envy."

Rose (York and Lancaster) - "War." These curious striped roses are supposed to have sprung up from the soil under which those killed during the Wars of the Roses were buried.

Rose (full-blown, placed over two buds) - "Secrecy."

Rose (red and white together) - "Unity."

Roses (crown of) - "Reward of virtue."

Rosebud (red) - "Pure and lovely."

Rosebud (white) - "Girlhood," "innocence."

Rosebud (moss) - "Confession of love."

Rosemary - "Remembrance."

Rue - "Disdain."