Gertrude Stein Was Wrong

A rose is a rose, but not just a rose anymore. After nearly a century of often prickly debate, the House of Representatives voted last week to dub it the "national floral emblem."

Trying to pick a national flower has been a hardy perennial in Washington politics. More than 70 different bills have been introduced over the years, promoting a veritable bouquet of blossoms, including the carnation, corn tassel, chrysanthemum and even clover. The late Senator Everett Dirksen of Illinois long campaigned for the humble marigold, praising its virtues in one flowery speech after another. His son-in-law, former Republican Majority Leader Howard Baker of Tennessee, held out for the marigold in Dirksen's honor. But Baker retired from Congress in 1984, and the rose finally won out as the House approved the same legislation passed by the Senate a year ago.

The rose's supporters sowed the seeds of victory with tributes to the flower's beauty and longevity. "The rose has had a long and proud American history," noted the House sponsor of the bill, Lindy Boggs of Louisiana. "Its fossils date back 35 million years in Colorado." Senate Sponsor J. Bennett Johnston of Louisiana (the American Rose Society is headquartered in the state) pointed out that the "rose is grown in every state of the union, including Alaska."

But, alas, no rose is without a thorn. Some have suggested the rose is somehow too genteel, too proper to be the American symbol. Much better the rangy sunflower or the homespun black-eyed Susan. "Most of the beautiful roses we cherish are European roses," said Stanwyn Shetler of the National Museum of Natural History, who testified against the rose and advocated, instead, the phlox. Moreover, like many homegrown American products, the new symbol is prey to foreign infestation, the rose's principal enemy being the Japanese beetle. Despite a few cavils, there seems little doubt that President Reagan will sign the bill. Being a master of the symbolic gesture, Reagan will surely do the honors on his home turf: the White House Rose Garden.