Rose hip

What it is

The dog rose, Rosa canina, makes red hips about 1.5–2 cm (0.6–0.8 in) long. Each oval fruit holds many seeds surrounded by fine hairs. Those hairs irritate the mouth, so the seeds and hairs come out before the flesh goes into food.

Rose hip is also the food name for the fruits of other roses. The dog rose is the one described here. Cooked hips can be strained for a smooth soup or dried for tea.

Where it comes from

Dog rose comes from Eurasia and also grows in North Africa. It travelled into gardens in the United States and Canada, then escaped into the wild.

In Britain during World War II, citrus imports were cut off and the government encouraged people to gather dog-rose hips. The hips were made into a syrup to stand in for the missing citrus.

How it's eaten where it grows

In Sweden, rosehip soup can be breakfast, a snack or dessert. Cooked hips are pureed, strained and sweetened; the soup is served warm or cold. Vanilla ice cream and little almond macaroons turn a bowl into dessert.

Bulgarian kifla wrap rosehip marmalade in crescent rolls made from kozunak dough, enriched with eggs, milk and butter. Here the fruit becomes a filling inside soft bread.

How it's grown

Dog rose is a shrub with arching, thorny stems and white or pink flowers with five petals. It can fertilize its own flowers, and insects also carry its pollen. New plants grow from seeds, shoots from the roots, or branches that root where they touch the ground. Among garden roses, shrub and old garden roses carry the best hips, and they need no removing of faded flowers.

When and where you'll find it

In the UK, dog-rose hips usually ripen in September and October in hedgerows, woodland edges and scrub. On garden roses, hips usually mature in late summer or early fall, in burgundy, scarlet-red, orange or golden-yellow.

Dried hips go into teas, and the fruit is cooked into jams, jellies and syrups.