Legend of the Cherokee Rose

When the Trail of Tears started in 1838, the mothers of the Cherokee were crying so much, they were unable to attend to their children and help them survive the journey. The elders prayed for a sign that would lift the mother’s spirits to grant them strength. The next day a beautiful rose began growing on the spot where each of the mother’s tears fell. The rose is white for their tears; a gold center represents the gold taken from Cherokee lands, and seven leaves on each stem for the seven Cherokee clans. The wild Cherokee Rose grows along the route of the Trail of Tears into eastern Oklahoma today. In 1916, with the support of the Georgia Federation of Women's Clubs, the Cherokee rose was named the state floral emblem. The name "Cherokee Rose" is a local designation derived from the Cherokee Indians who widely distributed the plant. The rose is excessively thorny and generously supplied with leaves of a vivid green. In color, it is waxy white with a large golden center. Blooming time is in the early spring, but favorable conditions will produce, in the fall of the year, a second flowering of this hardy plant.