For the longest time I thought rose hips were leaves or some other part of the rose plant, but not berries. I'd heard of rose hip tea and when I think of tea I think tea leaves. I didn't even know roses had berries. It takes a lifetime to explore the depths of one's ignorance. I was out photographing along the banks of the Credit River yesterday when I took the shot of the berries in the photograph on the left (click on it for a larger view). When I got back home and was reviewing the photos Marion told me they were rose hips.
Later in the day we went to the harbour in Port Credit to take some photos in the late afternoon light and I saw another batch of rose hips, in better shape than the earlier bunch.
Rose Hips
(click on image for a larger, clearer view)A little Google searching revealed that rose hips are edible and nutritious and that the berries can be eaten as berries and not only used to make tea. Wild rose hips were an important ingredient in the Native American diet and rose hips are still popular in health food stores and at vitamin counters.
I haven't tried any rose hip tea or jam yet, but now that I'm hip to rose hips, I'm ready!
(5-Oct-2003, Revised 16-June-2004)
www.NorthernJourney.com -- gene@wilburn.ca