Rosa spp.
Rose hips are the fruits that remain after rose flowers are pollinated. Depending on species, they range from small and firm to the large orange-red hips of beach rose.1
The fleshy outer part is tart and aromatic. Inside are hard seeds surrounded by irritating hairs, which need to be removed or carefully strained out.2
Beach rose (Rosa rugosa) is common along the Maine coast but is introduced and can spread aggressively. Its hips may be locally abundant even though the plant is not native.1
Botanically, the fleshy hip is an urn-shaped receptacle enclosing many small dry fruits, or achenes, each containing a seed. Its natural pectin helps account for the hip’s long use in jellies, preserves, sauces, and syrups.3
Footnotes
-
University of Maine Cooperative Extension, “Beach Rose Fact Sheet,” accessed July 17, 2026. ↩ ↩2
-
Smithsonian Gardens, “An Apple Is a Rose?,” accessed July 17, 2026. ↩
-
John Vaughan and Catherine Geissler, The New Oxford Book of Food Plants, 2nd ed. (Oxford University Press, 2009), p. 72 (PDF p. 107). ↩