The beach roses had finished blooming when we visited Meg, so what you see is a close-up of a rose hip that followed the flower. I researched this plant and now have a healthy ( this word was chosen deliberately.) respect for this berry.
Beach roses range across North America from Nova Scotia to Florida and along the Gulf Coast. Blooming in the summer, the beach rose produces 2- to 4-inch flowers ranging in color from white to pink to deep red. After blooming, the flowers of the beach rose bear fruit, called rose hips, which last through the summer and into the winter months. The fruit is orange to brick red and is eaten by many birds and other animals, including humans.
Rose hips resemble small crab apples and have a slightly bitter taste. The rose hip contains an abundance of seeds, which are distributed, in part, through the waste of the animals that feed on them. Like American beach grass, the beach rose thrives in sandy habitats. Beach rose bushes help stabilize beaches and dunes by retaining sand in the root clusters. Its dense thickets are inhabited by small animals and used as nesting sites by many birds.
Rose hips are commonly used as an herbal tea, often blended with hibiscus, and also as an oil. They can also be used to make jam, jelly, marmalade, and rose hip wine. Rose hip soup, "nyponsoppa", is especially popular in Sweden. Rhodomel, a type of mead, is made with rose hips.
Rose hips are particularly high in vitamin C content, one of the richest plant sources available. Rose hips of some species, especially Rosa canina (dog rose) and R. majalis, have been used as a source of vitamin C. During World War II, the people of Britain were encouraged through letters to The Times newspaper, articles in the British Medical Journal, and pamphlets produced by Claire Loewenfeld, a dietitian working for Great Ormond Street Hospital for Sick Children, to gather wild-grown rose hips and to make a vitamin C syrup for children. This was because German submarines were sinking many commercial ships: citrus fruits from the tropics were very difficult to import.
Rose hips contain plenty of lycopene, an important and strong antioxidant that prevents oxidation of low density lipoprotein (LDL) as well as of many cellular membranes.[
Rose hips also contain some vitamin A and B, essential fatty acids, and antioxidant flavonoids
A study of a rose hip preparation for treating rheumatoid arthritis concluded that there was a benefit, apparently due to both anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant effects.
Rose hips are used to help prevent colds and influenza.
That's a lot of medicinal value bundled in one little fruit!
Wow reading your article makes me appreciate this flower and seeds although more. I know it from when I was a child. we used the seeds to put them down someone's shirt color and the person, kid or adult would go nuts with scratching themselves.. we used to call it "Juck Puder" -
Scratching Powder. with all the medicinal properties I should maybe try the Rose hip tea or see if I can find it in capsule form. thank you so much for sharing this information and your lovely picture. a fav. to keep also for reading your article again another time.
Scratching Powder. with all the medicinal properties I should maybe try the Rose hip tea or see if I can find it in capsule form. thank you so much for sharing this information and your lovely picture. a fav. to keep also for reading your article again another time.