64 



BuivLUTlN 145 



COMMON JUNIPKK. Jufiiperus communis h. var. deprcssa Pursh. 

 The common spreading juniper is frequent on dry hillsides 

 and in rocky or sandy pastures of the Connecticut and Cham- 

 plain valleys. Indeed it is often so abundant as to be a nuisance. 

 It is a low outspread evergreen shrub, seldom over two or three 

 feet high but often broadening into circular beds five to ten 

 feet across. The horizontal branches lie half-buried in the soil 

 and are frequently rooted so as to make the cluster difficult to 



eradicate. The leaves 

 are green below and 

 whitish above, arranged 

 in a whorl of three, 

 standing out nearly at 

 right angles to the 

 branch. They are one- 

 third to one-half inch 

 long, and have sharp 

 rigid points which make 

 contact with this shrub 

 about as unpleasant as 

 with a thistle. This 

 probably aids in protect- 

 ing the plant from dis- 

 turbance by grazing 

 animals and so con- 

 tributes to its aggres- 

 siveness as a pasture weed. Little use is made of the 

 juniper in America. In Europe, where people are more 

 frugal, some value is attached to the wood, the bark affords 

 material for rope-making and the berries are used for preparing 

 gin and for medicinal drinks, esteemed in kidney troubles. This 

 juniper has some value for ornamental planting where a low 

 cover is desired on a warm dry slope. An upright form of it 

 sometimes occurs in Massachusetts and may be expected 

 especially in southern Vermont. European columnar forms, 

 particularly the Swedish juniper, are used ornamentally. 



Common Juniper. 

 Fruiting branch, X V'2- 



