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HERB ALLEY
Rosehips
(Rosa spp.)
COMMON NAMES: There are over
100 species of rose, and to them and their varieties have been given thousands
of names.
MEDICINAL PART: Flowers,
hips.
DESCRIPTION: The genus
Rosa consists of prickly shruvs found wild and widely cultivated in the
temperate parts of the Northern Hemisphere. Their trailing, climbing,
or erect stems bear alternate, odd-pinnate leaves; the familiar white to
deep-red flowers are usually single and five-petaled in the wild species,
but are often double in cultivated varieties. The fruit consists
of hairy achenes that are borne like seeds by the fruitlike, fleshy hip,
which is technically a ripened hypanthium.
PROPERTIES AND USES:
Aperient, astringent, stomachic, The common red garden rose has long
been a favorite medicinal plant in the practice of European folk medicine.
An infusion of dried rose petals is taken for headache and dizziness and,
with honey added, as a heart and nerve tonic and a “blood purifier.”
A decoction of the petals serves to treat mouth sores; and a dexoxtion
made with wime incigorates the tired body and is also useful to ease uterine
cramps. As a mouthwash, the wine decoction helps allay toothache;
as a cold compress for the forehead, it relieces headache; and as a warm
trickle into the ear, it helps earache. Cloths soaked with rose vinegar
can also be used as a compress for headache; and rose honey is an ancient
remedy for sore throat.
Red roses are xonsidered best
for medicinal use. Of the horticultural types, those classified as
Hybrid Perpetuals are the most suitable.
The Herb Book by
John Lust
