Hello from ḴÁLḴEIȽĆ | Nootka Rose
Hi! I’m ḴÁLḴEIȽĆ. You might know me as Rosa nutkana, my Latin name, or by my English name, Nootka rose. I’m native to SḴŦAḴ | Mayne Island and I am mixed up with the invasive sweet briar rose so often.
You can tell us apart by our thorns. Mine are straight. Theirs are hooked. But we both have pink teacup flowers filled with golden pollen, ready for the bees and bats and butterflies! We also both have five petals and scarlet rose hips which shape range from circles to ovals. My flowers bloom in June and July. My hips are best after the first frost. We grow to be one to three metres tall, and are bountiful on shorelines, in meadows, along tree lines, and in open forests. Many people say I smell sweet. Pollinators think so too. They love me!
People use my petals for plenty of things including rose water and jelly. My rose hips taste delicious in teas, syrups, and more. They have lots of vitamin C. Harvesters nibble my rose hips off my branches fresh, but they need to watch out not to eat the hairs which can irritate their stomachs. My roots are used by the W̱SÁNEĆ people to make reef nets, along with red cedar roots.
I’ll give you three reasons why I’m helpful to the Garry oak ecosystem: pollinators get nectar from my flowers. My hips give food and medicine. My leaves and branches give habitat. You can help me by planting me more (please!). You can protect me from predators by putting up deer fences, I hope. Unfortunately the deer love me almost as much as the pollinators! Please use the honourable harvest rules when harvesting me. In “Braiding Sweetgrass for Young Adults” by Robin Wall Kimmerer and Monique Gray Smith, they say the honourable harvest rules are: “Never take the first. Ask permission. Listen for the answer. Take only what you need. Minimize harm. Use everything you take. Share. Be grateful. Reciprocate the gift.” It’s also important not to take more than half. Some people say even less.
In conclusion, I am important to the Garry Oak ecosystem and you want me to stay around. I make things look beautiful, I help the pollinators, and I help you too. So please try to help me back.
Sources:
Environmental Youth Alliance, “Cultivating Climate Resilience”.
George Waterway Action Society, “Native Plants:Nootka Rose”.
Hornby Arts, “Rose Hip teachings from Elder Barb Whyte”.
From the Mayne Island Conservancy’s Youth Authors Series
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