Juniper |
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| Common Name | Juniper |
| Scientific Name | Juniperus communis |
| Juniper is also called Melmot Berries, Horse-Saver, and Bastard-Killer. Legend has it that it was a juniper bush that hid the infant Jesus from Herod's army. This is possible, since the strongly aromatic shrub is found in dry, rocky soil in Europe and Asia, as well as in North America from the Arctic Circle to Mexico. If you crush a juniper berry, you will smell the odor of gin and, indeed, the making of gin is the main commercial use of this herb. The word gin comes from the French word for juniper, genievre. Juniper tea is said to relieve digestive problems resulting from an underproduction of hydrochloric acid, and it is also believed to be helpful for gastrointestinal infections, inflammations, and cramps. Juniper is also considered a diuretic. | |
| Plant | Perennial evergreen shrub with many very close branches. The bark is chocolate brown with red tinges. Needles have white stripes on top, and are shiny yellow-green underneath. From April to June, yellow male flowers occur in whorls on one plant, green female flowers on another. Green berry-like cones appear after the flowers, and it isn't until the second year that they ripen into bluish-black or dark purple fleshy fruit. |
| Height | 4 to 12 feet. |
| Soil | Limestone, chalky. |
| Exposure | Sunny. |
| Propagation | By seed, but extremely slow; seeds won't germinate until the second or third year. A faster way is to take cuttings in August, 4 to 6 inches long, stripped to 1 inch or so from the butt, and then place them in a shaded cold-frame bed of sand. They will be rooted by the following summer. |
| Care | If you're planning to harvest the berries, keep pruning to a minimum, though you can trim a few straggly or lopsided branches by cutting tips of branches back to the first fork in spring. It's usually better to replace junipers when they've outgrown their space, rather than pruning them dramatically and sacrificing the berries and health of the shrub. |
| Part used for Tea | Ripe female berries. |
| Taste | Spicy, bitter-sweet, fragrant with an alpine-like tang, similar to that of gin. |
| How to Brew | BY INFUSION: Steep 1 teaspoon of dried, or 2 teaspoons of crushed fresh, berries in 1 cup of boiling water for 5 to 10 minutes. Strain, and enjoy. |
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