Fruit
Dog rose (hips)
Rosa canina L. · rosehip, wild rose, briar · Polish: Róża dzika (owoce)
Edible
How to identify it
- Shrub with strong, hooked prickles.
- Leaves compound, with 5–7 sharply toothed leaflets.
- Five-petalled pink or whitish flowers (May–July).
- False fruit (hip) elongated, 2–3 cm, purplish-red, containing many small hairy seeds (achenes).
Where it grows
Scrub, woodland edges, field margins and roadsides; common in Poland.
In the kitchen and the home medicine cabinet
The hips are picked when they are well coloured and firm, before they soften; wet hips are not picked. Rosehip preserve (without the seeds and hairs), jam, syrup, wine, nalewka; tea from dried hips. The petals are made into a rose-petal preserve used to fill doughnuts (pączki).
Caution The inside of the hip is filled with small seeds (achenes) bearing stiff hairs that are irritating — remove them when making preserves or sieve the purée. Do not pick beside roads. Sources differ about frost: some foresters advise picking after the first frosts, while Wikipedia advises against picking frost-damaged hips.
Frequently asked questions
When is Dog rose (hips) in season?
In Poland, usually in September, October.
Sources
- Wikipedia: Róża dzika
- Wikipedia: Róża (rodzaj) – zbiór owoców
- Nadleśnictwo Mrągowo (Lasy Państwowe): Nie tylko grzyby – jesień (29.10.2019)
- Wikipedia (en): Rose hip – urticating hairs
Last checked: 9 November 2026. Spotted a mistake? Write to us.
