Herbal Mondays

INTRODUCTION: The ROSE is found growing wild, and it is cultivated. “The birthplace of the cultivated rose was probably northern Persia,… (Grieve, 687)” The cultivation of the rose spread widely from Persia through Mesopotamia to Palestine, and then crossed over into Asia Minor into the country of Greece.  From there, it traveled into Italy. 

Sappho (a Greek poetess) called it the “Queen of Flowers”!  Therefore, the reason for my choosing the ROSE as the Second “Queen” of the series.  It is still in the early stages of being created, so I will not reveal the painting yet!

Wild Rose. 

Family: ROSACEAE

Species: Rosa woodsii Lindl

Common Name: Wild Rose (Woods rose, rosa Silvestre)

Life Span: Perennial

Origin: Native

Season: Cool

Habitat: prairies, open woods, plateaus, on dry slopes, in ravines, and of course the thickets; it grows in
               a wide range of soils.

This type of rose is in a bush form, about 1.5 m tall or almost 4 feet. Its little branchlets are very slim and scraggly, the crown is not regular, and it flowers from May to October.  The wild reproduces through its seeds.

The hips of the flower were used in Europe as a source of vitamins A and C. The hips can be dried and ground into powder to flavor soups and also to make syrup. 

Some American tribes used the young shoots as a potherb. The leaves are made into tea. The inner bark can be smoked similar to tobacco.

You can eat the petals raw in salads; they can be candied and used on desserts.    The petals can be dried and used for perfume. (Stubbendieck, et al). 

~In my “sister” blog this week, we will explore the folklore of the Rose~

References:

Grieve, Mrs. M.  A Modern Herbal, Volume II: I-Z and Indexes. Dover Publications Inc., 1981

James Stubbendieck, Stephen L. Hatch, and Charles H. Butterfield.  North American Range Plants, 4^th Ed.University of Nebraska Press, 1992.