On Sun, 04 May 2003 22:22:36 -0700, Cass
wrote:

In article , Jerome
Morrow wrote:

Pardon my ignorance but what is the pith? Is it the remains of the flower?

I don't know its purpose, but when you cut a rose hip in half, you'll
be looking at 3 things: the seeds; the shell (the outer edible part);
and hairy fibrous stuff that surrounds the seeds.

Here's a question:

What in the heck is *this*?

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/ddweil2/WeirdGrowth.jpg

Notice that it's growing straight out of a Sweet Briar Rose stem (you
can see the short stem on the right). When this thing forms hips, it
looks *nothing* like this. Is this an alien life form or maybe some
sort of rose cancer? Or is this Invasion of the Rose Snatchers? Should
I be watching for pods in my bedroom?

Can anyone offer a pithy reply?