190 - Looking back over the last few weeks, there seems to have been a lack of bright bold colourful shots, so here is a small step to remedy that.
Before today, I knew little about rose hips, but here is what I've learned:
'The rose hip, also known as rose haw or rose hep, is the fruit of the rose plant, that typically is red-to-orange, but ranges from dark purple to black in some species. Rose hips begin to form after successful pollination of flowers in spring or early summer, and ripen in late summer through autumn.
Rose hips are used for herbal tea, jam, jelly, syrup, soup, beverages, pies, bread, wine, and marmalade. They can also be eaten raw, like a berry, if care is used to avoid the hairs inside the fruit.
A few rose species are sometimes grown for the ornamental value of their hips, such as Rosa moyesii, which has prominent large red bottle-shaped fruits.
Rose hips have recently become popular as a healthy treat for pet chinchillas and guinea pigs. These small rodents are unable to manufacture their own vitamin C and are unable to digest many vitamin-C rich foods. Rose hips provide a sugarless, safe way to increase their vitamin C intake.
Rose hips are also fed to horses. The dried and powdered form can be fed at a maximum of 1 tablespoon per day to improve coat condition and new hoof growth.
The fine hairs found inside rose hips are used as itching powder.
Dried rosehips are also sold for primitive crafts and home fragrance purposes.'
What would we do without Wikipedia to fill gaps in our knowledge!
Nice and beautiful capture of the hips. There are many different types of it ( see my pic 12-08-20110) In the old days we did have books ( encyclopaedia ) Love the light to in this pic
Thank you Pyrrhula, glad you like it. I too am old enough to have made much use of encyclopaedia's, but there is so much more out there on the internet that I've become a real fan of it!
Thank you Caren. They come in quite a variety of shapes. These are on wild roses, but the ones on cultivated roses tend to come much later in the year.
Thank you Bob - I find the whole internet full of fascinating information!
Thank you Tony - I didn't realise it's many uses either until I did my internet search!
Thank you Pyrrhula, glad you like it. I too am old enough to have made much use of encyclopaedia's, but there is so much more out there on the internet that I've become a real fan of it!
Thank you Kristin, and thank you for the follow. I will be following you too!
Thank you Caren. They come in quite a variety of shapes. These are on wild roses, but the ones on cultivated roses tend to come much later in the year.
Thank you Brian - the ones growing on wild roses like these tend to be one of the early signs of the end of summer.
Thank you Marie, glad you like it!
Thank you Roslyn - these give a nice splash of colour near our local lake.
Thank you Jen, glad you like it!
Thank you Jen, they do make an attractive display!
Thank you Tanja - glad you like it!