To better understand the role of leaves in the lifespan of cut rose flowers, this study was conducted as a factorial experiment based on a randomized complete block design in Khorramabad city in 2010. The factors tested were: a cultivar factor with three levels (Coffee Break, Polastar, and Full House, a leaf factor with two levels including the presence or absence of leaves on the flowering stem, and a sucrose factor with two levels including the presence or absence of 4% sucrose in the flower preservative solution. The results showed that leaf removal was significantly effective in increasing water balance, relative fresh weight and consequently increasing the cut flower life. Adding sucrose to the preservation solution of leaf-containing branches caused damage to the leaves and a sharp decrease in absorption and transpiration, and in fact, these branches behaved similarly to leafless branches in this respect. Despite increasing the amount of petal soluble solids, adding sucrose did not have a positive effect on the cut flower life, even in leafless branches. The highest cut flower life was associated with leafless and sucrose-free flower branches of the Polarstar cultivar with a life of 11.6 days, which was not significantly different from leafless and sucrose-free flower branches of the Coffee Break (11.4 days) and Full House (11.0 days). Leafy flower branches without sucrose and with sucrose of the Full House cultivar showed the shortest cut flower life with a lifespan of 7.4 and 8.4 days, respectively.
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