Juniperus horizontalis : Creeping Juniper

Scientific Name:

Kingdom: Plantae

Division:

• Tracheophyta (vascular)
• Spermatophyta (seed bearing)
Gymnospermae (naked seed)

Class: Coniferae (cone bearing)

Family: Cupressaceae (Cypress Family Family)

Genera: Juniperus (Juniper) (Celt. root of name is yoini = rough)

Species: horizontalis (horizontal)

English Name(s):

Creeping Juniper,

First Nation Names:

deetree jak

Structure:

• Has long trailing and freely rooting main branches.
• Prostrate, mat-forning shrub.

Leaves:

• Blue-green in colour.
• Pointed tip or Aristate (spine on tip).
• Scale-like and overlapping like shingles.

Reproductive Parts:

• Cones of 2 types; male and female cones.
• Female cones, fleashy and berry-like. Green when young maturing to blue. On short peduncle (stalk).
• Male cones, small, not berry-like.
• The berry-like cone has a pore in the bottom through which the pollin can enter and firtilize the seeds.

Seed:

• Female cone looks like a blue or blue-grey coloured berry.

Not to Be Confused With:

• J.communisthe more common species of Juniper in our area is simmilar in habit but is easily distinguished by its need-like leaves.

Physiology:

Life Cycle:

• Perennial.

Seasonal Cycle:

• Berry-like cones mature in one season. They are ussually ripe in late August or early September.
• Evergreen.

Animal Uses:

• The berries (female cones) are readily eaten by most animals.

Habitat:

• Bluffs, alluvial fans, sandy places, terraces and rocky slopes.

Modern:

Industrial:

Medicinal:

• A volatile oil distiled from the dried berries is used to make the OTC drug Odrinil to increase urine flow. The oil can be used as a flavouring as well.
• Berries used to treat stomach pains. 5 berryies are chewed raw or steeped for 15 mins. in 500ml water and infusion drunk. Repeated for several days.
• Disinfectant made with 15 crushed berries are soaked in 250ml alchohol for 24 hours. Then sprayed in room where patients with infectious diseases stayed. Dilute by 1/2 with water and use as a garggle.
• Leaves of Junper contain the antibiotic podophyllotoxin which has been found to be active against tumors.

Food:

• Berries can be used to flavour foods, meet, and stews and un turkey stuffing are the most common uses.
• The Berries can be eaten raw or used in tea.

Traditional Gwich'in:

Folklore:

Industrial:

Medicinal:

Food:

Traditional Other:

Folklore:

Industrial:

• Berries used as beads on necklaces.
• Branches used to make mattresses. Also stored with clothes to repel bugs.

Medicinal:

• .Branch tips mixed with white wine were said to clear the skin.
• A handful of young sprigs was covered in boiling water steeped overnight and the infusion drunk to cure or prevent scurvy.
• Alternatively for arthritis or rheumatism heated damp bundles were bound to aching parts 3-4 times a day.
• An infusion of the berries was drunk cold every morning for a week to treat lumbago or impaired digestion.
• Branches used as fumigants, deoderizers, and cleansers in connection with sickness.
• Brewing or burning boughs was thought to purify a house and protect it from infection and bad spirits after illness or death.
• Damp branches were spread on glowing embers and those suffering from arthritis or rheumatism were made to recline on them.
• Leaves (needles or scales) were crushed, dampened, heated over the fire and bound to the jaw over an aching tooth. Then kept warm there with a hot stone.

Food: