Damask Rose Hydrosol | Rosa × damascena

Rose water has deep roots in Persian fragrance culture, where it is known as golab. Produced by distilling rose petals with water, it became one of Persia’s best-known aromatic preparations.

Historical accounts celebrated the rose water of Jur in Fars for its fragrance and described it being exported to distant markets in both the East and West. The tradition later became especially associated with Qamsar in the Kashan region, where the seasonal gathering of roses and distillation of golab remains a celebrated part of local culture.

The Damask rose itself carries an equally remarkable botanical story.

A molecular study examining four of the oldest Damask rose cultivars identified a shared ancestry involving Rosa moschata, Rosa gallica and Rosa fedtschenkoana. These old cultivars were maintained through vegetative propagation, preserving their complex hybrid lineage through generations of cultivation.