Just saying the word “rose” conjures up images of romance, secret admirers, Valentines gifts, and bridal bouquets. Romantics imagine soft, red petals and long, graceful stems, but practical gardeners know all about painful, pointy thorns. As the saying goes, every rose has its thorn. But, what we call thorns are actually not thorns at all.
“玫瑰”很容易让人联想到浪漫的场景，神秘的爱慕者，情人节的礼物和结婚的花束。浪漫的人会想象出柔软的、红色的花瓣和修长的，优雅的花茎，但是实际上园丁们才知道那些尖锐的刺带来的痛楚。常言道，每朵玫瑰都有刺。但是，我们所说的这种刺其实根本就不是刺。
Thorns
刺
Thorns, like those found on the Hawthorn tree, are modified branches that project from the stem and branches of a woody plant.
刺，例如山楂树上的刺，实际上是一种改良的分枝，它会从木本植物的茎和分枝中生长出来。
They are very sharp and quite strong because they are made of the same stuff as the stem of the tree or bush. Thorns are deeply embedded in the woody structure of the plant and can’t be broken off easily. Those nasty points on the stem of the rose are not true thorns: they are what scientists call “prickles.”
它们非常锋利并且相当坚硬，因为它们的质地与灌木或树的茎是一样的。这些刺都深深地嵌在植物的木纹状组织结构内，不会被轻易破坏。这些令人讨厌的长在玫瑰茎上的刺其实并不是真正的刺，科学家们称它们为“皮刺”。
Prickles
皮刺
Prickles are smaller than thorns: they are sharp outgrowths of the plant’s outer layers, the skin-like epidermis, and the sub-epidermal layer just beneath it. Unlike a thorn, a prickle can be easily broken off the plant because it is really a feature of the outer layers rather than part of the wood, like a thorn.
皮刺比刺要小了许多：它们是这些植物外层的附属物，看上去像皮肤的表皮，其下还有亚表皮层。不像刺，皮刺能够被轻易地从植物茎上剥落，因为它仅仅是植物外层的一种特征，而不像刺那样是茎的一部分。
Both prickles and thorns protect the plant from predators, and, maybe, from lovers looking for a free bouquet. But perhaps we call the rose prickles “thorns” because saying “every rose has its prickle” doesn’t seem to do justice to the pain of unrequited love.
不管是刺抑或荆棘，都可以保护这些植物不被捕食者所猎食，同样，或许也能免于被那些寻找免费花束的情人所折断。但是或许，我们应该叫这些皮刺为“刺”，因为“每一朵玫瑰都有它的刺”的说法似乎对那些暗恋者所感受的痛苦来说不太公平。 |