JUNIPERUS

JUNIPERUS, the JUNIPER TREE; a genus of the monadelphia order, belonging to the dioecia class of plants.

Species. 1. The communis, or common juniper, grows naturally in many parts of Britain, upon dry barren commons, where it seldom rises above the height of a low shrub. Mr Evelyn assures us, that "the juniper, though naturally of the growth of England, is very little known in many parts of the country: for it grows naturally only in dry, chalky, or sandy land; and, where the soil is opposite to this, the plant is rarely found. Those who have been used to see it in its wild state, on sandy barren commons, &c. will have little inducement to plant it; as there they will see it procumbent, seldom shewing a tendency to aspire: but when planted in a good soil, it will rise to the height of 15 or 16 feet, and produce numerous branches from the bottom to the top, forming a well-looking bushy plant. These branches are exceeding tough, and covered with a smooth bark of a reddish colour, having a tinge of purple. The leaves are narrow and sharp-pointed, growing by threes on the branches: their upper surface has a greyish streak down the middle; but

Juniperus. but their under surface is of a fine green colour, and they garnish the shrub in great plenty. The flowers are small, and of a yellowish colour. They are succeeded by the berries, which are of a blueish colour when ripe." Of this species there is a variety called Swedish juniper, which grows 10 or 12 feet high, very branchy the whole length, with the branches growing more erect, and leaves, flowers, and fruit, like the former. But Mr Miller affirms the Swedish juniper to be a distinct species. A prostrate and very dwarfish variety is mentioned by Mr Lightfoot, under the name of dwarf Alpine juniper. It is frequently found in the mountains in the Highlands of Scotland, and has broader and thicker leaves than the former; the berries are also larger, or more oval than spherical.

2. The oxycedrus, or Spanish juniper, rises from 10 to 15 feet high, closely branched from bottom to top; having short, awl-shaped, spreading leaves by threes, and small dioecious flowers, succeeded by large reddish-brown berries.

3. The thurifera, or blue-berried Spanish juniper, grows 20 feet high or more, branching in a conic form, with acute imbricated leaves growing by fours, and small dioecious flowers, succeeded by large blue flowers.

4. The Virginiana, or Virginia cedar, grows 30 or 40 feet high, branching from bottom to top in a conic manner, small leaves by threes adhering at their base; the younger ones imbricated, and the old ones spreading; with dioecious flowers, succeeded by small blue berries.

5. The Leycia, or Leycian cedar, grows 20 feet high, branching erect; garnished with small obtuse oval leaves, every-where imbricated; having dioecious flowers, succeeded by large oval brown berries. It is a native of Spain and Italy.

6. The Phoenicia, or Phoenician cedar, grows about 20 feet high, branching pyramidally; adorned with ternate and imbricated obtuse leaves; and dioecious flowers, succeeded by small yellowish berries. It is a native of Portugal.

7. The Bermudiana, or Bermudian cedar, grows 20 or 30 feet high, has small acute leaves by threes below, the upper ones awl-shaped, acute, and decurrent, by pairs or fours, spreading outward, and dioecious flowers, succeeded by purplish berries. It is a native of Bermudas.

8. The Sabina, or sabin tree; of which there are the following varieties, viz. spreading, upright, and variegated sabin. The first grows three or four feet high, with horizontal and very spreading branches; with short, pointed, decurrent, erect, opposite leaves; and dioecious flowers, succeeded by blueish berries, but very rarely producing either flowers or fruit. The second grows eight or ten feet high, with upright branches, dark-green leaves like the former, and dioecious flowers, succeeded by plenty of berries. The third has the ends of many of the shoots and young branches variegated with white, and the leaves finely striped; so that it makes a beautiful appearance.

Culture. The propagation of all the junipers is by seed, and of the sabin by layers and cuttings; but these last may also be raised from the berries, if they can be procured. They may all be sowed in beds of common light earth; except the cedar of Bermudas, which must be sowed in pots, to have shelter in winter. When the hardy kinds have had two or three years growth in the seed-bed, they may be planted out in autumn or in spring, in nursery-rows two feet asunder,

there to remain till of due size for final transplantation into the shrubbery. The Bermudas cedar must be sheltered under a frame for the first year or two; when they must be separated into small pots, to be sheltered also in winter for three or four years, till they have acquired some size and strength; then turned out into pots in the full ground, where they are to remain in a warm situation; though a shelter of mats for the first winter or two during hard frosts will be of great service. The season for transplanting all the sorts is either in autumn, October or November, or in March, and early in April.

Uses, &c. Juniper-berries have a strong, not disagreeable smell; and a warm, pungent, sweet taste; which, if they are long chewed, or previously well bruised, is followed by a bitterish one. The pungency seems to reside in the bark; the sweet in the juice; the aromatic flavour in oily vesicles spread through the substance of the pulp, and distinguishable even by the eye; and the bitter in the seeds. The fresh berries yield, on expression, a rich, sweet, honey-like aromatic juice; if previously pounded so as to break the seeds, the juice proves tart and bitter.—These berries are useful carminatives and stomachics: for these purposes a spirituous water and essential oil are prepared from them, and they are also ingredients in various medicines. The liquor remaining after the distillation of the oil passed through a strainer, and gently exhaled to the consistence a rob, proves likewise a medicine of great utility, and in many cases is perhaps preferable to the oil or the berry itself. Hoffman is expressly of this opinion, and recommends the rob of juniper in debility of the stomach and intestines, and says it is particularly serviceable to old people who are subject to these disorders, or labour under a difficulty with regard to the urinary secretion. This rob is of a dark brownish-yellow colour, a balsamic sweet taste, with a little of the bitter, more or less, according as the seeds in the berry have been more or less bruised. The Swedes prepare an extract from the berries, probably of the nature of the rob above mentioned, which some people eat for breakfast. In Germany the berries are bruised and put into the sauce made use of for a wild boar; and are frequently also eaten with other pork, to give it a wild-boar flavour. In Carniola and some other districts, the inhabitants make a kind of wine of them steeped in water; but it is difficult to prevent this liquor from growing sour. Thrushes and grouse feed on the berries, and disseminate the seed in their dung.—It is remarkable that the berries of the juniper are two years in ripening. They sometimes appear in an uncommon form; the leaves of the cup grow double the usual size, approaching, but not closing; and the three petals fit exactly close, so as to keep the air from the tipula juniperi which inhabit them.—The whole plant has a strong aromatic smell. The wood when burnt emits a fragrant odour like incense. It is of a reddish colour, very hard and durable; and, when large enough, is used in marquetry and vaneering, and in making cups, cabinets, &c. From the clefts of the bark, in warm climates, there sometimes exudes a resinous gum called by the Arabs Sandaracha *. This resin, or as it is improperly called gum, is brought to us from Africa, where

where the trees grow very large, and in great numbers.—Grass will not grow beneath juniper, but this tree itself is said to be destroyed by the meadow-oat. The oil of juniper mixed with that of nuts makes an excellent varnish for pictures, wood-work, and preserving iron from rusting. The resin powdered and rubbed into paper prevents the ink from sinking through it, for which it is frequently used under the name of POUNCE.—The charcoal made from this wood endures longer than any other, inasmuch that live embers are said to have been found in the ashes, after being a year covered.