Sunday, August 7, 2011

Rose hips

You don't think of a rose plant having a fruit, but here is the rose hip, about a half inch in diameter hanging on a simple pink rose bush. Of course rose hip tea is pretty common as an herbal beverage, but rose hips have other uses as jelly, pies and even wine. The fruit is also fed to chinchilas and guinea pigs as well as horses to improve their coat.

Rose hips are very high in vitamin C and were used for medicinal purposes in Europe when other sources of the vitamin were not available.

Apparently ants prefer the blossom to the fruit.

1 comment:

  1. We used to make itching powder from the seeds. I can't remember whether it worked, but it seemed like good fun when we were kids!

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