Dog-rose used to treat bites from rabid dogs in the past
Kildare Wildlife Watch
Against the dark green leaves in our hedgerows a pretty pink flower has emerged, dog-rose (Feirdhris as Gaeilge).
This is a native plant and you may be wondering why it is called dog- rose? From what I could find online at the Woodland Trust in the UK it is reportedly named as the roots were once used to treat those who had been bitten by a rabid dog.
The flowers are large with each producing five pink petals with yellow stamens in the centre, the stems are covered in hooked thorns and the leaves are divided into 2-3 smaller paired hairless leaflets.
It is a climbing plant so typically you will find it growing between other hedgerows plants often unnoticed until the flowers emerge. You may be actually more familiar with the fruit of dog-rose, you will know them as rose hips, the bright oval red berries that you observe in your local hedgerow in autumn.
The use of this plant in times past to treat rabid dog bites was not it's only use. The National Folklore Collection of Ireland, held at University College Dublin, has a record from Co. Cavan which shares that if a child did not pass urine after birth, briars from dog-rose were burnt under it, and ‘all would be right’.
Another record from Co. Laois shared that rose hips were a good source of Vitamin C and also Vitamins A, D and E. However, if eaten raw there may be mild nausea, vomiting, stomach ache and diarrhoea.
The Wildflowers of Ireland website shares that during World War II children were paid to collect rose hips as citrus fruits were unavailable.
The rose hips were used to make jams and wines. Watch for the flower of dog-rose in your community this week and while you will have to wait another few months for the rose hips to appear I will conclude with a gentle reminder that I don’t recommend you pick any wild plant to eat in your local area.#
If you would like help identifying a wildlife observation in your community you can contact me on [email protected].
- Nuala Madigan from the Bog of Allen Nature Centre