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Portrait of Juniper

Nature · Trees

Juniper

Native · evergreen conifer, low shrub to small tree, to 8 m · chalk downs, moorland and Scots pine woods

Juniperus communis — Cupressaceae

Juniper is one of Britain's three native conifers alongside Scots pine and yew, a prickly evergreen of chalk downland, moorland and old pine woods. Its fleshy purple-black cones ("berries") flavour gin. It is declining across the UK, partly because seedlings fail to establish under browsing and because of Phytophthora disease.

How to know it

Whole tree of Juniper
Whole tree Peter Mulligan from United Kingdom · CC BY 2.0
Leaf of Juniper
Leaf Ryan Hodnett · CC BY-SA 4.0
Bark of Juniper
Bark Wilhelm Zimmerling PAR · CC BY-SA 4.0

How to spot them

  • ▸Sharp prickly needles in whorls of three, with a single pale band above
  • ▸Reddish-brown ridged twigs; grey-brown bark peeling with age
  • ▸Blue-black berry-like cones, green in the first year and ripening over about 18 months
  • ▸Dioecious: male and female on separate plants
  • ▸Low, spreading shrub or small tree on chalk, moors and rocks

How to know it

A prickly native conifer whose berry-like cones take about 18 months to ripen from green to purple-black

Juniper.

Its cones give gin its main flavouring

Juniper.

One of Britain's three native conifers along with Scots pine and yew

Juniper.

Burned on Walpurgis Night or hung over doors on May Day to ward off witches

Juniper.

Declining across the UK as it fails to regenerate, with deer and rabbits browsing seedlings and a Phytophthora root pathogen

Juniper.

Needles in threes with a pale band on top, and dense cover for goldcrests and black grouse

Juniper (Juniperus communis).

Quick-fire facts

  • •Juniperus communis: communis means common or growing in groups
  • •Woodland Trust: native across the northern hemisphere, thriving on chalk, moorland and old pine woods
  • •Female cones look like blueberries but are fleshy cones, not true berries
  • •They take 18 months or so to ripen from green to purple-black
  • •Juniper berries flavour gin, and are used as a spice and in sauces and liqueurs
  • •Its caterpillars include juniper carpet, juniper pug and chestnut-coloured carpet moths
  • •Fieldfare, ring ouzel, mistle thrush and song thrush eat the fruit
  • •Declining in range and abundance in the UK; Phytophthora austrocedrae is a newly recognised threat
  • •Burned to smoke food and to ward off evil spirits

Drill it — 7 cards

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Sources