Prickly wild rose is common in temperate regions throughout the northern hemisphere. The prickles are thin and needle-like, the fruits (rosehips) are elongated and obovate and show a distinct “collar”. The sepals are long and adhere firmly to the fruit. The stalk below the fruit is covered with trichomes. The flower is pink and only faintly fragrant, yet it finds use in perfumery. North American natives made tea from the leaves and also ate them as a salad. The inner bark was smoked like tobacco.

The fruits of roses, called rose hips, are used in many ways. Rose hips can be used to make fruit tea and jam (“rose hip pulp”, “Hägemark”, “Buttenmost”). Dried and ground, they even make a substitute for flour and can be added to it. The fruits remain on the bush throughout the winter and into the spring. The later they are harvested, the sweeter they are. They contain enough sugar to make a fruit brandy (“pálinka”) from them.

• Edible Fruits
• Type of Fruit Rose hip Aggregated Fruit
• Culinary Group Wild fruits wild herbs
• Geschmack sweet tart
• Trivial Names Nadel-Rose, prickly wild rose, prickly rose, bristly rose, wild rose, Arctic rose, rosier arctique, rose aciculaire, Finsk rose, Róża igiełkowata, Шипо́вник игли́стый
• Size (single fruit) 2 cm
• Taxonomy Rosaceae (Rosengewächse) Rosa acicularis
• Origin Holarctic: Europe, Skandinavia, Siberia, Eurasisan Steppe, North-America (Map)
• Locality Gathered in Frankfurt am Main 2017