Rose Hip

Rosa (canina, rugosa, cinnamomea, acicularis, moyesii, macrophylla, and more)

▽ Water ♀ Feminine ♀☾ Venus, Moon

Folk Names

Dog rose, brier rose, rose hip, rose haw, rose hep,

Energetics & Properties

Love, luck, healing, mysteries, dreams, death and rebirth, abundance

"Abuelita said the rosehip contained the memories of the roses and that when you drank tea made from it, you took in all the beauty that the plant had known." - Esperanza Rising

What Is It?

Rose hips are the fruit of the rose plant.

Roses smell and look as enticing as they do with intention: Attracting pollinators. Once pollination has occurred, rose petals wither and fall off the plant receptacle. What's revealed is the ovary of the plant, which contains many tiny achenes, each enclosing a seed. This receptacle swells up and turn red. This is the rose hip.

All roses produce rose hips, but they're often pruned from decorative rose bushes. If you're looking for good rose plants for rose hips, Rosa rugosa, R. moyesii, and R. macrophylla 'Master Hugh' are known to yield the largest and juiciest fruits.

The scientific name for wild rose hips, Rosa canina L., comes from the ancient Roman belief that they could cure rabid dog bites.

Rose hips are used to make jam, jelly, marmalade, syrup, bread, soup, tea, oil, wine, mead, beer, saisons, lagers, sour ales, and more. Rose hip soup (nyponsoppa) is popular in Sweden, a rose hip beverage called cockta is the national soft drink of Slovenia, The Inupiat boil a syrup using rose hips, wild recurrant, and cranberries, and pálinka fruit brandy is made in regions with Austro-Hungarian ancestry. Rose hip can also be eaten raw or added to salads, but take care to remove the hairs inside the fruit, which can cause irritation and itchiness. In fact, they make a great itching powder.

How it Tastes:

Rose hips have a fruity, tangy, and honeyed taste. Semi-sweet with notes of vanilla or toffee, they complement many fruits and warm autumnal spices like ginger and cardamom.

Medicinal Benefits

Rose hips are rich in vitamins A, B, and C. They are anti-inflammatory and can help prevent urinary tract and gastrointestinal diseases, as well as the common cold.

Research is being conducted to see whether carotenoids in rose hops can help reduce arthritis pain.

*All medicinal benefits are for historical education purposes and entertainment. This website should not replace the advice of a doctor or other health professional. Please be responsible and consult a specialist before using a plant for healing purposes.*

Facts & Fables

The high vitamin content of rose hips has traditionally been utilized by Native Americans during winter months.

Trees laden with berries means a hard winter- Old wives tale or not?

Magic practitioners believe rose hips correlate with the element of water. Therefore, rose hips can be used in cleansing rituals and baths. Regardless of your magical beliefs, dried rose petals and rose hips are excellent additions to potpourri and bath soaks.

⚠ Cautions ⚠

Rose hips contain irritant hairs. Avoid consuming these by cutting and mashing the fruit while wearing gloves, then boil them with water (and sugar, if you'd like a syrup) and strain multiple times through cheesecloth or another cotton fabric.

Also be wary of the thorns.

Cocktails

• Rose Hip Whiskey Smash