A juniper berry is the female seed cone produced by the various species of junipers. It is not a true berry but a cone with unusually fleshy and merged scales, which give it a berry-like appearance. The cones from a handful of species, especiallyJuniperus communis, are used as a spice, particularly inEuropean cuisine, and also give gin its distinguishing flavour. According to one FAO document, juniper berries are the only spice derived from conifers,[1] though tar and inner bark (used as a sweetener in Apache cuisines) from pine trees is sometimes considered a spice as well.
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Juniper in Nevada
Juniper Berries
Juniper in Canary Islands
Juniper in California
The number of juniper species is in dispute, with two recent studies giving very different totals, Farjon (2001) accepting 52 species, and Adams (2004) accepting 67 species. The junipers are divided into several sections, though (particularly among the scale-leaved species) which species belong to which sections is still far from clear, with research still on-going. The section Juniperus is an obvious monophyletic group though.
Junipers are coniferous plants in the genus Juniperus of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Depending on taxonomic viewpoint, there are between 50-67 species of juniper, widely distributed throughout the northern hemisphere, from the Arctic, south to tropical Africa in the Old World, and to the mountains of Central America.
Eastern Juniper laden with cones.
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