Is This Juniper
- Thread starter delbach
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Should have added, sorry. Most Juniper here is spiky stuff, but Western Juniper has rounded leaves more like a leylandii.
M
M
Hi MaryDoes it smell like gin ? fruity and resinous too ?
Lovely find if it does
M
When I squeezed the berries there was quite a smell of pine ,but I cannot be sure because I was full of cold at the time
Andrew
I have never seen Juniper growing in my area and I knew it was spiky that why this threw me a bit the leaves on this one were rounded.if it is Western Juniper are the berries still edible
Thanks Andrew
Hard to tell from the.picture on my phone but it looks more like some form of Cyprus to me. The "berries" look faceted rather than smooth which would make me think they are immature cones and not berries. Plus the foliage looks off.
As I say though the picture is small and fuzzy on my screen.
Have made tea from various cyprus in the past, doesn't taste that great but its not gonna kill you if I remember correctly.
Edit: I really find it hard to see the picture, are they berries or little tight cones? Sorry.
Sent via smoke-signal from a woodland in Scotland.
As I say though the picture is small and fuzzy on my screen.
Have made tea from various cyprus in the past, doesn't taste that great but its not gonna kill you if I remember correctly.
Edit: I really find it hard to see the picture, are they berries or little tight cones? Sorry.
Sent via smoke-signal from a woodland in Scotland.
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It isn't Common Juniper, our native Juniper, that's for sure. As you would have Spikey needles. Since you came across it in a Car Park, hence planted for ornament; I'd go with perhaps Pencil Ceder.
Would've been nice to've seen a Photo of the Whole tree to see size and shape...
Would've been nice to've seen a Photo of the Whole tree to see size and shape...
Looks like a member of the cypress family to me but with those berries I'd say it was a Juniper (junipers are members of the cypress family) but definitely not our native Juniperus communis.
i wouldn't use the Berries as the berries of some other juniper species have been shown to cause kidney damage so without a definite id I wouldn't risk it.
i wouldn't use the Berries as the berries of some other juniper species have been shown to cause kidney damage so without a definite id I wouldn't risk it.
Now that I didn't know. Which ones are safe then, and are there any in particular, that are 'plantings' here, that are not ?
I use Juniper berries, but they're the ones from the native spiky bushes, and tbh, I never use very many of them anyway.
M
I use Juniper berries, but they're the ones from the native spiky bushes, and tbh, I never use very many of them anyway.
M
It dont look like juniper to me, for a start no needles, maybe Juniperus chinensis.
Oops as above
Oops as above
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I know that the Juniper monosperma….the Virginian one, is used in America as a herbal tea and as a food preservative in pemmican.
Eat the Weeds has this to say about the Junipers.
http://www.eattheweeds.com/junipers/
M
Eat the Weeds has this to say about the Junipers.
http://www.eattheweeds.com/junipers/
M
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Could be Western Juniper (Juniperus occidentalis) or Rocky Mountain Juniper (Juniperus scopulorum) which both have that type of leaf.
There are a lot of juniper species and a good number of them have edible berries that are widely used. Others are just too bitter to use and some are poisonous. Savin Juniper (Juniperus sabina) is common and has caused several deaths. It has a wide range, from Spain through southern and Central Europe all he way to Siberia. It's not likely to be confused with common juniper though as it is one of the many species (the majority) that have the cypress like foliage rather than the spiky foliage we are used to.
As for safe species, I stick to common juniper. Many of the others have very similar foliage and unless I was with a local who could point out the key iD features I'd leave them alone as hey can be very difficult to differentiate.
Sounds eminently practical an approach
I knew about the Virginian one because an American lady who was walking with me recognised it and explained that she'd found it all over here.
Mostly though it's just the normal spiky one that's around. Very rare to find berries on it in my bit of the world. Goatboy says he finds them in Perthshire though
M
I knew about the Virginian one because an American lady who was walking with me recognised it and explained that she'd found it all over here.
Mostly though it's just the normal spiky one that's around. Very rare to find berries on it in my bit of the world. Goatboy says he finds them in Perthshire though
M
it gets really confusing due to the common names used too! Juniper virginiana as the name suggests is common in Virginia but is commonly called Eastern Red Cedar. J. monosperma is just called Cedar by many American herbalists. But neither of them are Cedars - they are both Junipers. Then, add in that some species have the spiny foliage we are used to and others (majority) have foliage that is much more typically 'cypressy' just means that this is not a straightforward genus when it comes to id.
Looks like Trailing (or Creeping) Juniper, Juniperis horizontalis to me.
Very common here in Newfoundland, along with Common Juniper (J. communis).
The Trailing variety almost appears braided, or Twisted compared to the Common (my mnemonic).
Very common here in Newfoundland, along with Common Juniper (J. communis).
The Trailing variety almost appears braided, or Twisted compared to the Common (my mnemonic).
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