Native American Herbal, Plant Knowledge

WILD ROSES: HIPS, HAWS,

VITAMIN C

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Wild roses of many species (Oginiminaga wunj rose berries, in Ojibwe)

are abundant on the western prairies, especially when water is anywhere

nearby. They like sun. The ones I've seen in North and South Dakota all

have pinkish blossoms, like this drawing, but I've heard there ar white,

yellowish, and pale reddish-brown ones also. These roses, blossoming on

thorny briar tangles, flower through June and begin to set their haws, hips

or berries, which are ripe by early fall, as shown to the lower right of the

drawing.

Rose hips have been an important

food for all Native tribes where any

kind of roses can be found. They are

extremely high in vitamin C, much

more so than oranges, for example.

Dried, they keep well, and will

always be available in winter. Most

health food co-ops sell them (for

$25/lb or so, another economic

opportunity for tribal youth in late

summers).

Dried

rose hips need to be boiled about 10

minutes to make a tea of them; just

pouring hot water over them results in a

fairly tasteless brew. Use 2 tablespoons

per pint of water, boil covered. The hips

must expand, split, and let the water get

at the soft seeds within. The resulting tea

may be pinkish, depending on the type of roses whose berries are used. The

Native Foods --Rose hips

http://www.kstrom.net/isk/food/wildrose.html (1 of 4) [5/17/2004 11:48:00 AM]