Dog Rose

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The Dog Rose (Rosa Canina)

The Dog Rose or Wild Rose (Eglantier, gratte-cul, rose des haies, des bois, des chiens, de la Vierge or sauvage in French) is a wonderful thorny bush which resembles a bramble (it can grow stems up to 3 metres long). It is easily spotted in the hedgerows in June and July when it puts forth its delicate pink five petaled flowers. In the autumn you can collect the rosehips which are oval and change in colour from bright red to orange to a rich red. These are very rich in vitamin C - 100gms of rosehips contains the same amount of vitamin C as 1kg of lemons, and rosehips contain twenty times more vitamin C than oranges. They also contain carotenoids (vitamin A), flavones (vitamin B), tannins and vitamin E.

In France it got its name 'rosier de la Vierge' from the fact that the Virgin Mary had a Dog Rose on each foot when she appeared at Lourdes and the legend has it that, if you visit Lourdes, there is a Dog Rose just above the grotte which flowers all year round. A lovely old recipe from the 17th century for anyone who has been bitten by a mad dog is to make an omelette with 600gms of Dog Rose Root which must be eaten first thing in the morning on an empty stomach!

If you want to give your kids a bit of fun get them to collect some rosehips and split them open. Inside you will see the seeds and some fine hairs. These hairs are what is used to make itching powder and they are difficult to remove from clothing so be careful. I always watch out during the autumn because my son likes to try to get everyone by putting itching powder on the toilet seat! But these hairs are also used to kill worms 'ascari-lombricoides'. You can either mix 15cmgs (yes centigrams) of the hairs with a little honey or you can make a jam with the hairs in (this is also available at any good traditional herbalists).

The actual rosehip is usually found in dried form as a whole rosehip (cynorrhodon in French), or else chopped or powdered without the hairs. A remedy for kidney stones is 3gms of powder in a small glass of white wine. Leave this infusion for 7-8 hours and take it quarter of an hour before you go to bed every other night. It is said to work better if you do this in a waning moon (from full to new). But stop the treatment after 14 days or 7 doses.

Rosehip tea is useful for the gall bladder and kidneys. Try a cup of rosehip tea daily for sore and bleeding gums and at the first signs of a cold take morning and night (this helps to relieve caytarrh and bronchitis too). To make rosehip tea put 2 tsps of the cut hips in a cup of water, bring to the boil and gently simmer for 10 minutes.

Rosehip syrup is useful in cases of asthma and hayfever attacks and also for chicken pox, as it is used to replace the vitamin C lost during the attack. To make rosehip syrup take 450g rosehips picked just after the second frost, crushed and put into 900ml of boiling water. (Do not use an iron or aluminium pan.) Bring to the boil and stand off heat for 15 minutes. Strain through several layers of muslin to take out the hairs, reserving the 'juice'. Reboil the mashed fruit again with a further 300ml water. Stand for a further 15 minutes and strain reserving the juice again. Mix the two juices together, return these to the pan and reduce by long slow boiling until there is approximately 600ml of syrup left. Sweeten to taste with honey. As there is already glucose and saccharose in rosehips this may be better if you don't like too much sugar but for those with a sweet tooth add 350gm of sugar for every half litre of liquid. Bottle in clean dry containers and keep in the fridge once opened. This can be taken for asthma.

A rosehip tincture (2-4ml daily) is used as an astringent, against diarrhoea, to ease colic or else add to cough mixtures.

You can always take a cutting from a wild Dog Rose and plant it in your garden. This way you can guarantee that your rosehips have not been chemically treated.

Julia Renshaw

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