Wild Rose-Floral emblem of Alberta

About a dozen species of rose occur in Western Canada; but, mainly you'll find the Prickly wild rose (Rosa acicularis)and Prairie rose (Rosa woodsii). 

Edibility: Excellent. Use the hips dried or fresh. For sweeter hips, harvest them soon after the first frost of the year. Rose hips are high in vitamin C. And, it is  claimed by some, the seeds are high in vitamin E. 

DO NOT USE; SEEDS ALSO CONTAIN CYANIDE).

Use dried, ground hips in soups and stews, or make jams from the fresh fruit. Use the petals to liven up a salad or gelatin. The petals also make a delicate jelly and have been used to make a powerful wine.Dried, finely ground rose hips add a mildly sweet flavour to hot beverages made from fireweed, pineapple weed, strawberry leaves, or mint They can also be combined with the potent leaves of dried stinging nettle with good results.

                  

 Wild Rose(Rosa acicularis)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Rosa_rubiginosa_1.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Knockout_Rose_Buds.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Rose_hip_02_ies.jpg

-floral emblem of Alberta the wild rose is one of the most important foods for Canadian survival; it grows on prickly bushes 2-5 feet high. The flowers are a delicate pink, sometimes a deep, dark rose. In September or after the seed pods have been nipped by frost, they are red and soft, and ready to be picked

Three or four rose hips contain as much vitamin C as one orange. They'll keep well in the freezer, or they can be dried; or eaten right off the bushes all during the winter (be careful doing this- the Ruff Grouse gets it's nick name "fool hen" from eating fermented rose hips and other berries).

1. Most parts of all rose shrubs are edible;whats more,the fruit(hips which remain on the branches throughout winter are available when many other species have finished for the season. These hips can be eaten fresh or dried and are most commonly used in tea, jam, jelly syrup and wine.
2. Rose petals are edible Buds are edible
3. Young shoots are edible
4. Young leaves are edible
5. Hips  can be eaten fresh or dried for storage
6. Warning: The dry inner seeds of the hips are NOT palatable and their fibreglass like hairs can irritate the digestive tract.At one time "naughty" school boys used to make an itching powder(great to use on the girl sitting in front of them) by slicing a rose hip in half and scraping out the seeds with these attached hairs. Spread this material to dry, then swirl it in a bowl. The seeds will drop to the bottom. Skim of the fine, dry hairs--there you have it--this itching powder is guaranteed to work.
7. As do many other berry and fruit seeds; all members of the Rose family have cyanide-like compounds in their seeds, but in rose seeds drying or cooking destroys the compounds.Only the outer shell of the rose hip is edible, discard the mass of hard hairy seeds
8. Dried hips are used to make a very nourishing tea and are sold in all health-food stores
9. Plants grow in plains, foot-hills,mountain and sub-alpine regions