Photo: Roberta F., CC BY-SA 3.0 (via Wikimedia Commons)
Rose Hip
Rosa canina
Also known as Dog Rose, Wild Rose, Briar Rose, Hip Fruit
Key benefits
✦Traditional uses
✦Rose hips have long been gathered from hedgerows as a humble, generous harvest, prized above all for their remarkable vitamin C content. During the Second World War, when citrus imports to Britain dried up almost entirely, families and volunteers combed the countryside for wild rose hips to boil down into a syrup that helped keep children healthy through the winter. Beyond that famous chapter, folk herbalists across Europe steeped the dried hips into tart teas traditionally reached for at the first sign of a cold, and to traditionally ease the stiffness of aching joints. The tiny fruit, easy to overlook on a bare autumn bush, became a quiet symbol of resourcefulness and care.
How to grow & use it
✦The full apothecary for Rose Hip
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- ✦Remedies & preparations
- ✦ Growing guide
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“You want the warmth of a hedgerow harvest in a cup, something bright and a little tart that tastes like autumn sunlight saved for winter.”
The fine hairs surrounding the seeds inside a rose hip were once collected by British schoolchildren and sold as classic itching powder, which is exactly why traditional preparations always call for straining the fruit well before drinking.
Rose hips are safe when properly prepared, but the fine hairs around the seeds irritate the mouth and digestive tract, so hips must be halved, deseeded, and strained before use. Their vitamin C content can increase iron absorption and may interact with blood thinners in large amounts.