Roses :: Rose Hips Facts 

Rose Hips Facts

Some rose hips facts are that they are sometimes eaten, mainly for their vitamin C content. The rose hip, also called the rose haw, is the promiscuous fruit of the rose plant. It is typically red to orange but may be dark purple to black in some species. It is a flowering bush.

A rose that has aged or gotten rotten may not be very fragrant, but the rose’s basic chemistry prevents it from producing a pungent odor of any kind. When balled and mashed together the fragrance of the rose is enhanced. The larger the ball is, the more the fragrance.

They are usually pressed and filtered to make rose hip syrup, as the fine hairs surrounding the seeds are unpleasant to eat (resembling itching powder). They can also be used to make herbal tea, jam, jelly and marmalade. Rose hips are commonly used as herbal tea, often blended with hibiscus. Rose hip soup “Nyponsoppa”, is popular in Sweden. Rhodomel, a type of mead, is made from rose hips. Rose hips are also used to produce oil used in skin products.

Rose hips health benefits are high in Vitamin C. More rose hips facts is that they also contain vitamins A, D and E, essential fatty acids and antioxidant flavonoids. Rose hip powder is used for rheumatoid arthritis. They are also attributed to prevention of urinary bladder infections and assisting in treating dizziness and headaches. Rose hips are also commonly used externally in oil form to restore firmness to skin by nourishing and astringing tissue. Brewed into a concoction, it can be used to treat constipation. They contain a lot of iron, so some women brew rose hip tea during menstruation to make up for the iron they lose with the blood.

Rose hips have recently become popular as a healthy treat for pet chinchillas. Chinchillas are unable to manufacture their own Vitamin C, but lack the proper internal organs to process a variety of foods. Rose Hips provide a sugar free, safe way to increase the Vitamin C intake of chinchillas. TheDog Rose and Rugosa Rose are high in Vitamin C content.

The fine hairs found inside rose hips can be used as itching powder.

Roses may be propagated from hips by removing the seeds from the aril (the outer coating) and sowing just beneath the surface of the soil. Placed in a cold frame or a greenhouse, the seeds take at least three months to germinate.

The fruit of the rose is berry liked and called a rose hip. The species that have open-faced flowers attract bees. Many are so tightly petalled that they do not provide access for pollination. Most species are red, but a few have dark purple to black hips. Each hip has an outer fleshy layer, called the hypanthium's, and has 5 to 160 seeds. Rose Hips are eaten by fruit eating birds such as thrushes and wax wings, which then disperse the seeds in their droppings. Some birds particularly finches also eat the seeds.

Rose Hips are very beneficial. Theseare some of the rose hips facts.

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