Probably, every person at least once in his life saw rosehip bushes, or, as people call it, wild roses, because he really belongs to the Rosaceae family. Thanks to a number of useful properties that include both fruits and flowers of rose hips, it is possible not only to significantly strengthen the immune system, but also to cure many diseases. It is for this reason that it is so important to know where the wild rose usually grows, how to properly collect and harvest its flowers and fruits so that they retain all their useful properties for a long time.
Why is it necessary to collect rose hips?
Rosehip is one of the most commonly used plants in folk medicine due to a number of useful properties that it contains. Knowing the places where the wild rose grows, you can provide the body with all the necessary vitamins for a long time.
With proper preparation, it has a significant effect on the body:
- restorative;
- anti-inflammatory;
- choleretic;
- antimicrobial.
Due to the high content of vitamin C (ascorbic acid) in the composition of rose hips, as well as vitamins B (stimulates the circulatory system), P (improves the condition of capillaries), K (stimulates blood coagulation), E and carotene, anyone can choose the most suitable for their needs a part of the rosehip containing the required vitamins, and to significantly strengthen the immune system with it.
The area where the rosehip grows can be so vast that the harvest can be used even on an industrial scale. An example is the May rose, the natural thickets of which reach a length of several kilometers. Rosehip is most widely used in the form of a variety of tinctures, syrups, powders, oils, which significantly increase the body's resistance to many infectious and viral diseases.
Cinnamon Rosehip
It is no secret that not all types of rose hips carry the same composition of useful properties, which is why it is important to know not only which species will bring maximum benefits to the body, but also how to distinguish them among a significant variety of varieties. Rosehip cinnamon, or May, is one of the most useful species of this plant. At the same time, the places where the wild rose grows are very inaccessible, although they differ in a high degree of productivity.
In fact, May dogrose is a shrub that reaches a height of 2-2.5 m with a large number of thorns. They are present even on leafy shoots, albeit in a much more compact size, representing small, thin and straight spikes. Its branches are covered with brown-red bark. The flowers are large, most often single with five pink petals. It is easiest to recognize this type of rosehip by the fruit of a berry-shaped form, which, in fact, are false.
Their color ranges from orange to bright red. Inside the fleshy false fruits, a large number of nut fruits have an angular shape and are surrounded by many hairs.
The main flowering period falls in July, and the fruits ripen closer to the end of August. Given that the places where the rosehip of cinnamon grows are very productive, the yield of the largest thickets can reach 500 kg / ha. Most often it can be found along roads, as well as in glades, edges and clearings, where soil with an average degree of moisture predominates, but the floodplains of the rivers where it can form literally kilometer thickets remain the most favorable area for it.
Brown rose
Unlike May, the area where brown rose hips grow is not very extensive. Oddly enough, despite the favorable climate, it is practically not observed in the southern steppe regions and Crimea, however, it can often be found on the slopes of rivers and glades, where it usually grows in single copies. Its height does not exceed 2 m, and the branches are covered with a blood-red bark. Despite the fact that the bush itself is quite prickly, it is practically not observed on the flowers of thorns.
Flowers up to 5 cm in diameter, pale red or red. Fruits of a spherical or slightly flattened shape contain a large number of seeds. Despite the fact that brown rose hips are blooming, like May, in May, you can start collecting fruits already in late September.
Useful properties of berries
Rose hips contain not only vitamin C, but also flavonol glycosides, numerous organic acids and many micro and macro elements, due to which various decoctions of rose hips are quickly absorbed by the body. At the same time, despite the fact that the fruits are a strong diuretic, its composition gently affects the tissues of the kidneys without destroying their structure, and also stabilizes the activity of the gastrointestinal tract, regulating metabolism.
Berry harvesting and storage technology
Having decided on where the rosehip grows and how to find it, you can proceed to the direct collection of berries. At the same time, you must take into account the fact that they should be ripe, and not over-ripened. The fruits taken from the bush are stored in a cool room where they will not be exposed to direct sunlight for no more than a year. In addition, it is necessary to ensure that the temperature in it does not rise above 15 degrees, otherwise the berries will lose part of their beneficial properties.
Knowing where the rosehip grows and how to store it, you can provide your body with a large number of useful macro- and micro-elements for a long time without spending a lot of money on the purchase of specialized vitamins in a pharmacy. Drying berries is recommended at a temperature of 100 degrees. In the event that you do not have a dryer, for this purpose you can use a conventional oven, distributing the berries on the surface with an even layer.
At the same time, despite the fact that some of the vitamins with such a preparation still disappear, the duration of storage of rose hips with the preservation of all remaining vitamins will increase to about two years.
Collection and harvesting of flowers and roots
In order to maintain the maximum number of useful elements contained in the flowers of wild rose, it is necessary to determine the place where the wild rose grows long before flowering, and proceed to the collection directly during flowering. They need to be dried in a warm room, where there is a constant circulation of air. The shelf life should not exceed 1 year.
Rosehip roots are recommended to be dug up with the onset of the first cold weather. After extraction from the earth, they are thoroughly cleaned of dirt and dried in air. With this technology, they will retain their useful properties for approximately 2 years.
The main places of growth
Rosehip is a fairly unpretentious plant that can grow without problems in almost any locality, up to regions with a fairly cold climate. It is noteworthy that the dogrose does not require special care conditions or a special area for growth, due to which it is quite common.
The largest thickets of this plant can be found in regions where steppe terrain prevails. Moreover, in the steppe itself it will be much less than in small forests and plantings growing in this territory. In addition, wild rose hives can often be found in ravines. Although in most cases it will not be easy to get to such bushes, you can be sure of a significant amount of the crop that can be harvested.
The places where the wild rose grows , the properties of which will bring the greatest benefit to the body, are quite secluded and inaccessible for collection. In the event that you live in a large city and you do not have the opportunity to go to collect the rose hips in the steppe, you can buy berries in pharmacies and specialty stores. However, if you want to get the maximum benefit from the berries, it will be enough just to go to the nearest city landing, where with a thorough examination you will surely find several rosehip bushes.