J U N 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



J U N 



773 



surface of the ground round their roots, to preserve them 

 from frost; by which, while the plants are so young, they 

 are liable to be injured, if much exposed, but when they 

 have acquired strength, they will resist the severest of our 

 cold. After two years, they should be either removed into 

 the nursery, (as was directed Cor the first species,) or 

 transplanted where they are intended to remain, observing 

 always to take them up "carefully, otherwise they are subject 

 to fail upon transplanting ; as also to mulch and water the 

 ground as before, until they have taken root; after which, 

 they will require no further care, than only to keep the 

 ground clear about their roots, and to prune up their side 

 branches to make them aspire in height. The soil in which 

 these trees are finally planted, should be fresh and light, 

 but must not be dunged, especially at the time when they 

 are planted, for d mg is very injurious to them, unless it be 

 quite rotted to mould : hence the mulch laid upon the sur- 

 face of the ground should not be dung, but rather some old 

 tanner's bark, or sea-coal ashes, which will prevent the frost 

 from penetrating deep into the ground. These trees being 

 thus managed, will, in a very few years, rise to a considerable 

 stature, and will resist the sharpest frost of our climate 

 exceedingly well ; and, by the variety of their evergreen 

 leaves, and manner of growth, will greatly add to the beauty 

 of all plantations where they are rightly disposed : unfortu- 

 nately, however, there are few persons who consider the dif- 

 ferent growth of the several trees with which they compose 

 such plantations, so as to place the tallest-growing trees the 

 backwardest from sight, and the next tallest next to them, 

 gradually diminishing, till we come to the Common Juniper, 

 and others of the same growth ; whereby all the trees will 

 be seen, and the gradual declivity of their tops will exhibit 

 a verdant slope, and be much more agreeable to the sight, 

 as well as more advantageous to the growth of the trees, 

 than to place shrubs of humble growth near such plants as 

 will grow to the first magnitude, and not only hide the shrub 

 from sight, but overshadow and destroy it: nor can the 

 distance which each requires be so justly proportioned any 

 other way ; for in this distribution, the larger trees being 

 separated by themselves, may be placed at a due distance; 

 and then those of a middling growth succeeding, may be 

 accordingly allowed sufficient room ; and the smaller, which 

 are next the sight, being placed much closer, will hide the 

 naked steins of the larger trees, and produce an agreeable 

 effect to the eye. 



7. Juniperus Communis; Common Jumper. Leaves in 

 threes, spreading, mucronate, longer than the berry. It is 

 a low shrub, seldom rising above three feet high ; much 

 branched, rigid, smooth, evergreen. Thejuic* of the whole 

 plant is a kind of turpentine. The male flowers are some- 

 times on the same flowers with the female, but at a distance 

 from them : but they are cjommonly on distinct plants : the 

 female flowers are succeeded by roundish berries, which are 

 first green, but when ripe, of a dark purple colour. There 

 are two varieties ; the Swedish, or Tree-Juniper, and the 

 Alpine, or Mountain Juniper, which are scarcely to be dis- 

 tinguished from the common sort ; the first varios with nar- 

 rower leaves and longer berries, the second with broader 

 and thicker leaves and oval berries. When planted in a 

 good soil, the Juniper will rise fifteen or sixteen feet high, 

 and form a well-looking bushy shrub, which is easily trans- 

 planted, and bears cropping. Grass will not grow beneath 

 it, but the Avena Pratensis destroys it. The wood is hard 

 and dur.ible, and tht> bark may be made into ropes. Spirit, 

 impregnated with the essential oil of these berries, is every 

 where known by the name of gin. Gum Sandarach, known 

 VOL. i. 65. 



under the name of Pounce, in its powdered form, is the pro- 

 duce of this shrub. Horses, sheep, and goats, feed upon 

 this plant ; several insects, as the Cimex Juniperus, Thrips 

 Juniperina, and Coccinella Novempunctata, live upon it; 

 indeed, sometimes the leaves of the calix grow double the 

 usual size, approaching, but not closing, and the three petals 

 fit exactly close, so as to keep the air from the Tipulae Juni- 

 peri, or Juniper Spiders, which inhabit them. This plant is 

 celebrated for i-s diuretic properties ; the berries are princi- 

 pally used ; and a spirit prepared from them is kept in the 

 shops, and used plentifully in hydropic cases, and in diuretic 

 draughts ; these berries, boiled in water, yield a sweet decoc- 

 tion tasting very strongly of the Juniper ; from this decoction, 

 a quantity of sugar may be obtained : the berries are also 

 considered as stomachic, carminative, and diaphoretic ; of 

 their efficacy in many hydropical affections, we have various 

 relations from physicians of high authority, such as Du Ver- 

 ney, Boerhaave, Hoffman, and Van Swieten. Authors, how- 

 ever, do not seem agreed which preparation of the Juniper is 

 most efficacious ; some preferring the rob or inspissated 

 decoction; of which the celebrated Cullen disapproved, alleg- 

 ing, that .in boiling it loses great part of its essential oil, in 

 which he thought the virtue of Juniper principally consisted. 

 Hoffman, on the other hand, strongly recommends the rob, 

 which he declares to be of great utility in weakness of the 

 stomach and intestines, especially for elderly persons ; but, 

 as the modern practice generally depends on more powerful 

 medicines, the Juniper being considered in a secondary view, 

 it may perhaps be allowed that as good a form as any for 

 its use, is that of a simple decoction, which either by itself, 

 or with the addition of a small quantity of gin, may be a 

 useful drink for hydropic patients. Medical writers have 

 also recommended it in scorbutic cases, and in some cuta- 

 neous diseases; but in these cases", a decoction, prepared 

 from the wood and the tops of the plant, is thought prefer- 

 able to that from the berries. Linneus informs us, that his 

 countrymen, the Swedes, prepared a beer from the berries, 

 which they consider as very efficacious in scorbutic cases, 

 and that the Laplanders drink infusions of Juniper berries, 

 as we do tea and coffee, for the same purpose. Hill says, 

 the berries are excellent in colicky complaints, and for the 

 stone and gravel. He agrees with Hoffman in observing 

 that the rob or jelly made from the berries is excellent in 

 catarrhs, defluxions or humours on the lungs and breast, 

 weakness and debility of the stomach and intestines, diffi- 

 culty of making water in people of an advanced age, and 

 other similar disorders. Juniper wine is sometimes made, 

 and is said to be very wholesome. 



8. Juniperus Oxycedrus; Brown-berried Juniper. Leaves 

 in threes, spreading, mucronate, shorter than the berry. 

 Height ten or twelve feet, branched the whole length. This 

 shrub will be feathered from top to bottom, if left untouched 

 from the first planting, or if not crouded with other trees. 

 The leaves are awl-shaped, and finely spread open ; they are 

 also very short, sharp-pointed, and give the shrub a fine 

 look ; and the large brownish-red berries make a handsome 

 appearance when they , re ripe, being as large as a hazel-nut. 

 Native of Spain, Portugal, and the south of France. 



9. Juniperus Phoenicea; Phoenician Jumper, or Cedar. 

 Leaves in threes, obliterated, imbricated, obtuse. It grows 

 with the branches in a pyramid. Ray thinks it scarcely 

 distinct from the following species. Native of the south of 

 Europe and the Levant. 



10. Juniperus Lycia; Lycian Juniper, or Cedar. Leaves 

 in threes, imbricate on all sides, ovate, obtuse. The branches 

 are erect, and covered with a reddish-brown bark ; leaves 



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