Rosae Caninae Fructus. Hips.
Related entries: Pale Rose Petals - Red Rose Petals - Rose Water - Oil of Rose
Hips are the fresh fruits of Rosa canina, Linn. (N.O. Rosaceae), and other indigenous allied species. The ripe fruit of the dog rose is ovoid, smooth, shining, and of a scarlet or red colour. It is crowned with five calyx teeth, beyond which a dense tuft of short styles protrudes. The fruit consists of the fleshy, hollow receptacle (to which the calyx tube is united), bearing on its inner surface a number of small, hairy achenes. It has an agreeable, acid taste. The fruit of the field rose, R. arvensis, Huds., resembles that of the dog rose, but is nearly globular, and the styles of the achenes protrude in the form of a column. No other English wild roses occur in sufficient abundance to furnish an appreciable quantity of fruit.
Constituents.—Hips contain malic and citric acids, sugar, and a trace of tannin.
Action and Uses.—The drug is used in the preparation of confection of hips.
PREPARATION.
- Confectio Rosae Caninae, B.P. 1885.—CONFECTION OF HIPS. Syn.—Confectio Cynosbati.
- Hips, deprived of their seed-like fruits, 1; refined sugar, 2. Beat the hips to a pulp in a stone mortar, rub the pulp through a sieve; then add the sugar and mix thoroughly. Confection of hips is used chiefly as a pill excipient.
