The rose is the flower of woody perennial shrubs of the genus Rosa, prized in cooking for its intensely floral, faintly fruity petals. A handful of fragrant species — above all the damask rose (Rosa × damascena) and the cabbage rose (Rosa × centifolia) — are grown specifically for their scent, distilled into rosewater and rose oil and preserved as gulkand, jams, syrups and confit petals.