- Region
- Europe
- Origin
- Damask rose from Persia and the Middle East, now grown in Bulgaria, Turkey and Iran; dog rose wild in Europe. Rosa × damascena, Rosa canina
- Other names
- Roos en rozenbottel
Europe · Herb · № 89
Rosa spp.
Herb · Europe
Rose and rose hip
Rosa spp.
Rose hips are rich in vitamin C; a hip powder has been studied for osteoarthritis with modest results. Rose water and oil are used in skin care and as fragrance.
Safety notes
The hairs inside the hips are irritating; strain tea well. Always dilute rose essential oil for external use.
Cautions by tradition (2)
- Natural skin and hair care: Use only unsprayed roses. Label toners containing water with the date and do not keep them too long.
- Anishinaabe (Ojibwe) medicine: Only use roots of a wild rose you have identified for certain.
Preparation
Hips as tea, syrup or powder; rose water and oil externally or in cooking. No dosage is given here.
Use in traditions
Persian physicians such as Avicenna refined the distillation of rose water. Ody describes the rose as a beloved remedy of Arabic (Unani) and European medicine. During the Second World War rose hips were gathered in Britain for vitamin C.
Applications
Use by tradition
How different herbal traditions describe this herb. Amounts are traditional guidelines checked for obvious errors; they are not medical advice. For poisonous plants no dosage is given on purpose.
Herbal medicine worldwide
Attributed effects
Antidepressant, antispasmodic, aphrodisiac, astringent, calming, promotes digestion and bile flow, cleansing, expectorant, antibacterial, antiviral, antiseptic.
Preparation and amount
2 drops of rose oil in the bath for depression, grief or insomnia; up to 10% in massage oil for stress and exhaustion; in cream for dry skin; rose water with 10% lady's mantle for vaginal itching; rose water with witch hazel water for pimples; petal tincture up to 3 ml 3 times a day for diarrhoea and irregular menstruation; gargle for sore throat.
Everyday Ayurveda
Attributed effects
Cooling, refreshing, lovely scent; lassi good for skin and hair.
Preparation and amount
Rose water or freshly ground rose petals in rose lassi (¼ cup yoghurt, 1 cup water, 1–3 tsp sugar) in summer and autumn; ground petals in a body scrub.
Natural skin and hair care
Attributed effects
Rose water and rose hip oil soften and nourish dry or mature skin; rose hips are rich in vitamin C.
Preparation and amount
External: rose water, petals, rose hip powder and rose hip oil in cleansers, toners, salve and bath bags. Internal: rose hips in herbal tea (see the recipes).
Caution: Use only unsprayed roses. Label toners containing water with the date and do not keep them too long.
Anishinaabe (Ojibwe) medicine
Attributed effects
One of the four ingredients of bi'jikiwuk (Main'gans); its Ojibwe name means 'cattle berry'.
Preparation and amount
Wash, scrape, dry and powder the root of prairie rose (Rosa arkansana); mixed in equal parts with fringed sage and ground plum.
Caution: Only use roots of a wild rose you have identified for certain.
Chinese materia medica
- Nature and taste
- sweet, slightly bitter, warm
- Meridians
- spleen, liver
Attributed effects
The Chinese rose flower (mei gui hua, Rosa rugosa) moves qi and blood in a tight feeling in the chest, pain in the stomach area, belching and poor appetite from disharmony between liver and spleen, in premenstrual complaints and in low mood.
Preparation and amount
Traditional dosage: 1–6 g a day, usually in a decoction. Paste: chop fresh red rose petals very finely and mix with honey, possibly with fresh tangerine peel.
Folklore and herbal magic
Symbolic meanings from folk use and modern herbal magic. These are handed-down associations, not effects.
Master herb of love: brings peace, attracts love, heals grief, gives strength, rose bath for self-love, healing, divination, calm, harmony, psychic abilities, spirituality, protection, love, self-love, reconciliation, recovery.
Herbal magic and rituals
Attributed effects
In herbal magic associated with love, peace, comfort and beauty.
Preparation and amount
In Europe and the Middle East the rose is the flower of love, dedicated to Aphrodite and Venus and later to Mary; the rosary owes its name to it. Persian scholars such as Avicenna refined the distillation of rose water, which in the Islamic world belongs to hospitality and prayer.
Home, kitchen and folk use
Preparation and amount
Edible if unsprayed; love tea; patience and love oil; summer bath; candied petals; rose water; rose sugar.
Tags
Sources
- en.wikipedia.org
- en.wikipedia.org
- Michael & Lesley Tierra, Chinese Traditional Herbal Medicine, vol. II: Materia Medica and Herbal Resource (1998)
- Penelope Ody, The Complete Medicinal Herbal (1993; 2017)
- Stacey Dugliss-Wesselman & Susan Gregg, Herbal Remedies Made Simple (2018)
- Frances Densmore, Chippewa Music II (1913)