Beach Roses

Rosa Rugosa, although this name could be mistaken for a character from the Harry Potter series, it is in fact the scientific name for a Beach Rose. Beach Roses litter the sand dunes of every Rhode Island shoreline. They are the bushes with little pink flowers that make the dunes so pretty, and scratch the hell out of eager youths ankles attempting to have a free beach day. They bloom in the summer and produce a fruit called a rose hip.

Rose hips were first used by Ancient Greeks to make rose oil perfume- the scent being associated with Aphrodite, the goddess of love. Still to this day 50% of male and female perfume contains rose oil.

In addition to being used as a type of “love potion”, rose hips were used to treat a myriad of ailments. Its high content of Vitamin C and antioxidants make it a useful medicinal plant.

Today we use rose hips in teas to cure inflammation and simply for their pleasant flowery taste. They are also commonly used to make jams and jellies.

Taxonomy

Common Names: Japanese Rose, Beach Rose, Saltspray Rose, Beach Tornado.

Kingdom: Plantae

Class: Magnoliopsida

Order: Rosales

Family: Rosaceae

Genus: Rosa

Species: R. rugosa

Distribution: Native to eastern Asia, but naturalize in the sand dunes of many coastlines.

Quote of the Plant:

Sand Dunes

“Sea waves are green and wet,
But up from where they die,
Rise others vaster yet,
And those are brown and dry.

They are the sea made land
To come at the fisher town,
And bury in solid sand
The men she could not drown.

She may know cove and cape,
But she does not know mankind
If by any change of shape,
She hopes to cut off mind.

Men left her a ship to sink:
They can leave her a hut as well;
And be but more free to think
For the one more cast-off shell.”

- Robert Frost