33 Juniper Tree Facts: Types, Identification, Uses And Much More

Junipers are evergreen coniferous trees spread over the Northern Hemisphere, out of which 60-70 species are the aroma fragmented belonging from a family of cypress.

There are about 50-67 species of junipers found throughout the world. Junipers are a part of Juniperus, the Cypress family Cupressaceae.

The number of species is a question of a dispute with different studies giving different outputs on the exact number. Although the species are divided into various sections, there is still some research on the number.

At 16000 ft (4876.8 m) altitude, juniper forests are found at the highest of their treelines on earth. The trees differ in their length or shape, and the basic length is 65-130 ft (19.8-39.6 m). It has a needle or scale-shaped evergreen leaves, either dioecious or monoecious.

Facts About Juniper Trees

Junipers with monoecious leaves are a source of spreading allergies due to pollen secretion by male parts of a tree, which affects our skin and lungs.

Areas with highly prone to forest fires resist planting these trees because their outer resin is highly combustion infused.

The laxative oil obtained from juniper acted as a cure for severe wounds or infections.

Types of Juniper Trees

There are many versions of common junipers, and we have some of those types discussed here.

Among all drought-based trees, Juniperus Squamata 'Blue Star' is only water-based. It is mainly found in England, where the air has good moisture content. Its blue color gives more landscape view and water-based depiction from first sight.

Juniperus Horizontalis 'Blue Chip' is a creeper with a blue shaded effect. It needs to be grown in larger grounded areas to multiply on a creeping floor. It variates in colors, with bluish in winters and greener in summers.

Another variant of Juniperus Squamata is Floreant which has a somewhat perfect bun shape with good water content. It eliminates the gap between foliage of dark and dull atmospheres.

Lime juniper is a shrub with foliage of green and yellow color that blooms in the spring and summer seasons. It changes its color to coffee or coffee in the winter season. The color-changing part happens only on spikes of needles, and the inside part stays green.

Pfitzeriana juniper species is a typical hybrid of Juniperus Chinensis and Juniperus sabina. It revels in its bark of cinnamon and gives floral perennials.

Juniperus conferta 'Blue Pacific' acts like a water-based tree in drainage soil. It has sharp needles to sprawl. It has light aqua color effects which turn into silver in the winter season.

Uses Of Juniper Trees

Juniper offers various medicinal and constructive uses demonstrated as follows.

Juniper from Cedar species is used in furniture making like drawers, wooden tables, etc.

It provides various sauce flavors and is quite famous in European states.

The essential oil of juniper has various uses as well.

Light yellow oil is extracted from juniper berries distilled to promote warmth in the winter season. This essential oil is quite popular and can also be used as a flavoring ingredient.

The ash of burnt juniper is a rich source of calcium, as per people's belief from Navajo.

It is also believed that juniper also helps people who have diabetes. Also, some believe that juniper berries can be used to treat asthma.

An excrete of juniper, Gitran, is used for whitening the teeth with a single-use.

Juniper is also considered very beneficial when it comes to digestive problems like intestinal gas and an upset stomach.

Juniper Tree's Identification

Junipers differ in colors from silver-green to variants of blue, golden, and bronze. Juniper begins to grow rough and sharp needled leaves and turns to sensitive foliage over a growing period.

Junipers are erect with a habitual weep which varies in size from 6-130 ft (1.8-39.6 m) to 1-25 ft (0.3-7.6 m). It acts as a wind resistor with tall variations and hardened foilage.

Major junipers are monoecious, and they have male or female parts.

The female part of the tree contains cones that produce blackberries and takes three years for maturity.

It has many medicinal, herbal, antiseptic, therapeutical elements. The oil extracted from the juniper species serve many benefits like kidney stimulation.

Did You Know?

The main sections of this division are section Juniperus and section Sabina which are further classified into Old World species and New World species. Out of these, the most common is the Juniperus communis, also known as the common juniper.

Junipers are also classified based on their twigs and leaves. Some older trees bear seedlings and twigs with needle-like leaves. These twigs have scales and overlap in mature trees.

The common juniper is divided into several infraspecific taxa, with two significant subspecies. Communis and Alpina. The junipers are dioecious.

Dioecious means they are divided into males and females to study sexual reproduction in plants. This small tree also contains oil glands in its leaves.

The female flowers are green and spherical, mature slowly, turn purplish-blue, and look very similar to ripe berries, and their leaves never attain dense foliage. They usually contain one to 12 seeds.

Pollination occurs when the pollen from the male trees is windblown over the female flowers.

Common juniper berries are the seed cones that several juniper species produce. These berries are cones with a berry-like appearance and merged scales that grow on every juniper species.

While some are bitter to eat, some are edible species, some are very toxic, and their consumption is dangerous for health.

Juniper berries have flesh covering the surroundings of the seeds. They are exclusively used in northern European cuisine for a sharp, unmistakable flavor.

The berries of junipers have flavorless outer scales and thus are lightly crushed before using them as spices. The spices from these berries are also used to season pork and cabbage dishes.

Essential oil is also extracted from the ripened berries of junipers, is colorless to yellow or pale green-colored, and is used for aromatherapy. It is extracted from the berries and consists of monoterpene in large quantities.

These trees are often confused with cedar, while juniper is most commonly a shrub. Both trees are conifers. Cedar belongs to the genus Cedrus, while juniper belongs to Juniperus communis.

Cedarwood is used to manufacture insect-resistant timber for building furniture and houses. In contrast, the common juniper wood is used to make containers, shipbuilding, and knife handle.

The common juniper is valuable for its lasting aromatic wood used as a fragrant. The wood from cedar is also used in making drawers and closets.