Rosa acicularis - Alaska Center for Conservation Science

Rosa acicularis
Lindl.
Arctic rose, Prickly wild rose
Iñupiaq = “igruŋnak” (rosehip)
Yup’ik = “tuutaruaq” (rose)
Alutiiq = “qelempaq” (rosehip)
Edible Parts: Petals, fruit, stem, roots, and peeled prickles
Harvest: Spring, Summer, and Fall
Arctic rose is circumpolar in the boreal forest, growing in woods, heaths,
tundra bogs, and thickets. It blankets the understory, and its flowers’ aromatic
oils perfume the beginning of our boreal summers.
Red-orange hips are used in jellies and syrups, and the light pink petals are
used in a delicate jelly. Hips and petals each make a distinct tea. Rosehips are
the best source in vitamin C in the region—3 hips are equivalent to eating an
orange. Because of this, woman’s groups in England during WWII organized
rosehip foraging for wartime nutrition.
Alaskan natives make a rosehip Akutuq (Eskimo Icecream) and a variation
for times of famine called “Starvation Akutuq” that uses the spit from chewed
salmon spines mixed with mashed hips.
Yup’ik Elders Foraging Principles:
“For all plants, say quyana – ‘thank-you’ after you
pick them.”
Gather rosehips from September to November, after
they have been sweetened and softened by frost.
Recipe for Rosehip Syrup
1.
Chop off stems and flower ends.
Mince the hips with a knife or food
processer.
2.
Cover the hips in water (2 cups water
for 4 cups hips) and boil for 20
minutes, covered. Let cool 15 minutes.
Pulp with potato masher.
3.
Strain out the seeds by pouring
through muslin or sieve. Let drip for
an hour. Keep juice aside and return
pulp to the pot.
4.
Add water and repeat boiling and
straining. It can be left dripping
overnight.
5.
Add 2 cups of sugar to the juices and
boil for 5 minutes.
6.
Bottle or jar. Refrigerate to keep for
two weeks.
Serve on pancakes or ice cream, or use as
a concentrate for teas or cocktails.
Sources: Plants that We Eat: Nauriat Nigiñaqtuat : from
the Traditional Wisdom of the Iñupiat Elders of Northwest
Alaska by Anore Jones; The Boreal Herbal: Wild food and
medicine plants of the North by Beverly Gray; A guide to
the ethnobotany of the Yukon Kuskokwim Region edited by
Kevin Jernigan of University of Alaska FairbanksEthnobotany guide was compiled by Chicago Botanic
Garden interns Charlotte Crowder and Jennifer MacMillan
during their 2015 summer internship with the Alaska
Center for Conservation Science at UAA.
Nullautchtg –naksfruk
(Iñupiaq for ‘It’s dinner time’)