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Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: JEE-JUN |
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JUNIPER . The junipers, of which there are twenty-five or more species, are evergreen bushy shrubs or low columnar trees, with a more or less aromatic odour, inhabiting the whole of the cold and temperate northern hemisphere, but attaining their maximum development in the Mediterranean region, the North Atlantic islands, and the eastern United States. The leaves are usually articulated at the base, spreading, sharp
Sometimes the same plant produces both kinds of leaves on different branches, or the young plants produce acicular leaves, while those of the older plants are squamiform. The male and female flowers
flowers
cone
series each bear one or two erect ovules. The mature cone
The genus is divided into three sections, Sabina, Oxycedrus and Caryocedrus. Juniperus Sabina is the savin, abundant on the mountains of central Europe, an irregularly spreading much-branched shrub with scale-like glandular leaves, and emitting a disagreeable odour when bruised. The plant is poisonous, acting as a powerful local and general stimulant, diaphoretic, emmenagogue and anthelmintic; it was formerly employed both internally and externally. The oil of savin is now occasionally used criminally as an abortifacient. J. bermudiana, a tree about 40 or 50 ft. in height, yields a fragrant red wood
cedar
cedar
Mexico
wood
J. communis, the common juniper (see fig.), and several other species, belong to the section Oxycedrus. The common juniper is a very widely distributed plant, occurring in the whole of northern Europe, central and northern Asia to Kamchatka, and east and west North America. It grows at considerable elevations in southern Europe, in the Alps, Apennines, Pyrenees and Sierra Nevada (4000 to 8000 ft.). It also grows in Asia Minor, Persia, and at great elevations on the Himalayas. In Great Britain it is usually a shrub with spreading branches, less frequently a low tree. In former times the juniper seems to have been a very well-known plant, the name occurring almost unaltered in many languages. The Lat. juniperus, probably formed from junicrude form of juvenis, fresh, young, and parere, to produce, ig represented by Fr. genievre, Sp. enebro, Ital. ginepile, &c. The dialectical names, chiefly in European languages, were collected by Prince L. L. Bonaparte, and published in the Academy (July 17, 188o, No. 428, p. 45). The common juniper is official in the British pharmacopoeia and in that of the United States, yielding the oil of juniper, a powerful diuretic, distilled from the unripe fruits. This oil is closely allied in composition to oil of turpentine and is given in doses of a half to three minims. The Spiritus juniperi of the British pharma- 557 copoeia is given in doses up to one drachm. Much safer and more powerful diuretics are now in use. The wood is very aromatic and is used for ornamental purposes. In Lapland the hark is made into ropes. The fruits are used for flavouring gin (a name derived from juniper, through Fr. genievre); and in some parts of France a kind of beer called genevrette was made from them by the peasants. J. Oxycedrus, from the Mediterranean district and Madeira, yields cedar-oil which is official in most of the European pharmacopoeias, but not in that of Britain. This oil is largely used by microscopists in what is known as the " oil-immersion lens." The third section, Caryocedrus, consists of a single species, J. drupacea of Asia Minor. The fruits are large and edible: they are known in the East by the name habhel. (From Bentley and Trimen's Medicinal Plants, by permission of J. & A. Churchill.) Juniper (Juniperus communis). 1. Vertical section of fruit. 2. Male catkin. End of Article: JUNIPER If you wish, you can link directly to this article.
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