Juniper - Juniperus

Junipers are coniferous plants in the genus Juniperus of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Depending on taxonomic viewpoint, there are between 50-67 species of juniper, widely distributed throughout the northern hemisphere, from the Arctic, south to tropical Africa in the Old World, and to the mountains of Central America.


USES
Juniper berries are a spice used in a wide variety of culinary dishes and best known for the primary flavoring in gin (and responsible for gin's name, which is a shortening of the Dutch word for Juniper: genever). Juniper berries are also used as the primary flavor in the liquor Jenever and sahti-style of beers. Juniper berry sauce is often a popular flavoring choice for quail, pheasant, veal, rabbit, venison and other meat dishes.

Many of the earliest prehistoric people lived in or near juniper forests which furnished them food, fuel, and wood for shelter or utensils. Many species, such as J. chinensis (Chinese Juniper) from eastern Asia, are extensively used in landscaping and horticulture, and as one of the most popular species for use in bonsai. It is also a symbol of longevity, strength, athleticism, and fertility.

Some junipers are susceptible to Gymnosporangium rust disease, and can be a serious problem for those people growing apple trees, the alternate host of the disease.

Some juniper trees are misleadingly given the common name "cedar"-- including the "red cedar" that is used widely in cedar drawers. True cedars are those tree species in the genus Cedrus, family Pinaceae.

Juniper berries have long been used as medicine by many cultures. Juniper berries act as a strong urinary tract disinfectant if consumed and were used by American Indians as a herbal remedy for urinary tract infections. Western tribes combined the berries of juniperus communis with Berberis root bark in a herbal tea to treat diabetes. Clinical studies have verified the effectiveness of this treatment in insulin-dependent diabetes. Compounds in these plants when combined and ingested have been shown to trigger insulin production in the bodies fat cells, as well as stabilize blood sugar levels. Native Americans also used juniper berries as a female contraceptive. Nicholas Culpeper recommends the ripened berries for everything from asthma to speedy delivery of children to sciatica.


Species
Juniperus communis, the Common Juniper, is a species in the genus Juniperus, in the family Cupressaceae. It has the largest range of any woody plant, throughout the cool temperate Northern Hemisphere from the Arctic south in mountains to around 30°N latitude in North America, Europe and Asia.

Juniperus rigida (Temple Juniper) is a species of juniper, native to northern China, Korea, Japan, and the far southeast of Russia.

Juniperus brevifolia (Azores Juniper). It is a shrub or small tree growing to a height of 6 m and a trunk diameter up to 50 cm. The leaves are evergreen, needle-like, in whorls of three, glaucous green, 4-10 mm long and 1-3 mm broad, with a double white stomatal band (split by a green midrib) on the inner surface. It is dioecious, with separate male and female plants. The seed cones are berry-like, green ripening in 18 months to orange-red with a variable pink waxy coating; they are spherical, 6-9 mm diameter, and have three or six fused scales in one or two whorls of three, the three larger scales each with a single seed. The seeds are dispersed when birds eat the cones, digesting the fleshy scales and passing the hard seeds in their droppings. The male cones are yellow, 2-3 mm long, and fall soon after shedding their pollen in early spring. It is endangered in its native range due to a combination of historical felling for the valuable wood and competition from invasive introduced plants.

Juniperus chinensis is a shrub or tree, very variable in shape, reaching 1-20 m tall. It is native to northeast Asia, in China, Mongolia, Japan, Korea and the southeast of Russia.

Juniperus foetidissima (Foetid Juniper or Stinking Juniper) is a juniper native to southeastern Europe and southwestern Asia, from southern Albania and northern Greece across Turkey to Syria and the Lebanon, the Caucasus mountains, the Alborz mountains of northern Iran, and east to southwestern Turkmenistan. There is also an isolated population in the Crimea.

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