The "Berry" with a Bite -- Common Juniper Field Notes

FIELD NOTES Common Juniper (Juniperus communis):

Common Names: Dwarf Juniper, Ground Juniper, Prostrate Juniper, Old Field Common Juniper, Horse Savin, Mountain Berry, Mountain yew, swamp bough, Aiten (Gaelic), Dena’ina of Alaska call the cones dlin’a gega “mouse’s berry” and the plant tsuni ela—“brown bear’s spruce bough.”

Description: An evergreen shrub with shape-changing versatility. It can sprawl in shoulder-high mats, salute the sun as a 50-foot-tall columnar tree, or, shrink into a lowly dwarf shrub in the arid tundra. No matter, it can live for 170 years. Bark: Reddish-brown, thin and scaly, it falls off in strips. Leaves: Needle-like at first, turning into blunt scales with age; grow in whorls of three.

Fruit: Round cones, sage green when young, blushing to red, and eventually midnight blue with a smoke patina when mature. They bear 2-3 seeds.

Britton & Brown Illustrated Flora
 2nd Edition (1913)

Edible Parts: Berries.

Harvesting with a Gentle Hand: Gather ripe berries for culinary use when they are dark blue. Small sprigs of branches can be harvested anytime, but be conservative, juniper tends to regenerate and grow slowly.

Caution: If you aren’t sure of the species of juniper berries you are collecting, don’t cook with them! Some are bitter. One species, Juniperus Sabina is toxic. Juniper extract, used externally for rheumatoid, bursitis and muscle pain is anti-inflammatory. (Think of pine and juniper bath salts.) However, don’t cook with common juniper oil—which is very concentrated—since even small does can be fatal internally. Some people get itchy dermatitis from touching juniper — be prepared, don a pair of gloves for serious harvesting. As well, pregnant women should not consume juniper berries because the berries stimulate the uterus.

Juniper Follow Up:  Chocolate Juniper Berry Truffles