The black rose of Halfeti is a rare and bizarrely stunning flower found in Halfeti, a village near Urfa, Turkey. These rose are dark red when it first blooms and later turns into a dark scarlet hue.
We’re used to seeing roses of the most varied colors, produced by florists or those who love DIY, as the web abounds with tutorials on how to dye them.
For this reason, we can be led to believe that black rose is also made synthetic, through a procedure that alters its original hue.
Instead, we are confronted with one of the wonderful exceptions that nature generates without any human intervention.
This fascinating flower grows only in Halfeti, a small village in Turkey in the Urfa region.
This area has a very special history, as it is considered the sacred land of the three great monotheistic religions.
This place is also important for the Armenian tradition, as it is said that the first Armenian alphabet was created here.
Halfeti is located precisely along the banks of the Euphrates, and the presence of the river makes the land suitable for this unique variety of roses.
It is the pH of water that influences the pigmentation of petals. These plants germinate, albeit in small quantities and only for a short period of time during the year.
Flowering begins in the spring, and the coloring of the petals is not constant, but changes at the same time as the flower grows, eventually reaching a shade that is extremely close to black.
When the black rose blooms, its petals are, in fact, of a very intense crimson color, which gradually darkens until the full ripening of the flower occurs in the summer. Its unique beauty is why it’s also known as the Arab Bride or Arab Beauty.
It was initially believed that it was simply the climate that influenced the growth of this particular species. Thus, when, in 1990, the construction of dams ordered by the Turkish Government caused the flooding of the old town of Halfeti.
The inhabitants were forced to move about 10 kilometers and brought some of the rose cultivation, with the intention of replanting it in the new village. But the terrain, although not so far from the original, was not suitable.
Roses bloomed equally but appeared to be simple red roses, losing the ability to darken their petals as they grow. Therefore, in order to try not to lose this unique variety, farmers have tried to plant it in greenhouses that are closer to the soil of origin. The situation has not yet been resolved, that being said, and the black rose flower is now on the verge of extinction.
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