While cruising back roads over the weekend, I noticed the prickly rose bushes are not very tall, but they are loaded with ripening hips.
Hips are formed from the fleshy top of the flower stalk, or receptacle, from which the flower petals, sepals, stamens and female ovaries grew in the flowering stage.
After fertilization has been successful, the receptacle swells up and around the developing seeds, turning fleshy and later becoming juicy and orange-pink.
Whereas true fleshy fruits such as berries develop from the thickening of the ovary wall, soft fruits developing from the receptacle are known as false fruits.
The short size of the plants is probably indicative of the dry growing conditions in our area. However, the abundance of ripe hips indicates that conditions must have been excellent for pollination during flowering.
The flowers have a sweet smell to attract the pollinators that visit in search of nectar and pollen. Rose hips are a valuable source of Vitamin C.
When I grew up in the U.K. babies were regularly given rose-hip syrup to keep them healthy and to ward off diseases.
Hips are also a valuable source of antioxidants and may possess anti-inflammatory properties.
The hips can be readily made into jellies or syrup, fruit leathers and tea or they may be eaten whole and raw. It is wise to remove the seeds first before cooking or eating them since seeds are covered with tiny hairs that irritate the gastro-intestinal tract.
A practical joke at potlatches that would cause a great deal of amusement among Indigenous people was to give rose hips to everyone as a gift.
It is understood that guests at a potlatch are expected to eat everything they receive to avoid being considered impolite. Hence, there was much amusement watching the guests wriggling around on their seats from eating the “itchy-bum seeds” as they were known.
I noticed that several piles scat along the roadsides were yellowish/orange left by the bears from eating the yummy, nutritious hips.
