Time to trot out more Canadian wildflowers; here is the floral emblem of Alberta, the Prickly Rose. The flowers are replaced in late summer by rose hips which provide food for birds and mammals through winter. The rose hips are unusually high in vitamins A & C and can be made into jams, jelly, juice (not by the birds and mammals though I'd say). Indians used the leaves for tea and the inner bark for smoking. At one time they also used the dried fruit as beads for necklaces. So endeth the lesson for today....
14.8.10
A PRICKLY SUBJECT
Time to trot out more Canadian wildflowers; here is the floral emblem of Alberta, the Prickly Rose. The flowers are replaced in late summer by rose hips which provide food for birds and mammals through winter. The rose hips are unusually high in vitamins A & C and can be made into jams, jelly, juice (not by the birds and mammals though I'd say). Indians used the leaves for tea and the inner bark for smoking. At one time they also used the dried fruit as beads for necklaces. So endeth the lesson for today....
