JUNIPEKUS JUNIPER. 



261 



JUNIPERUS. —Juniper. 



Character of the Genus. — Flowers dioecious, occasionally monoecious, 

 in very small lateral catkins. Anthers 3 to 6, one-celled, inserted in the 

 lower edge of the scales. Fertile flowers few in a small ovoid catkin, of 

 3 to 6, fleshy coalesceut scales, each one-ovuled. Fruit berry-like, though 

 in reality a reduced fleshy cone, with scaly bracts at the base, black with a 

 whitish bloom. 



Evergreen shrubs or trees with small, scale-like leaves. 



Juniperus communis Linne. — Common Junijjer. 



Berries globular, one-third inch in diameter, dark-pm*plish, and covered 

 with a whitish bloom. Leaves artic- 

 xdated, in whorls of 3, with a slender 

 prickly point, one-half to three-fourths 

 of an inch long, bright green below, 

 glaucous-white above. 



A low shrub, 4 to 6 feet high, as- 

 cending or spreading on the gi'ound. 



Habitat. — On dry sterile hills ; 

 common. It is abundant also in Eu- 

 rope, where it fruits more freely than 

 here. 



Juniperus Virginiana Linne. — 

 Bed Cedar. 



Description. — Berries smaller than 

 in the preceding. Leaves of two dif- 

 ferent forms ; the younger ones small, 

 ovate, acute, scale-like, imbricate in 

 four rows upon the sub-divided 

 branchlets ; the older, awl-shaped, 

 loose, one-half inch long. The latter 

 form is common in young plants, 

 making them resemble, to some ex- 

 tent, the preceding species. Fig. 156._Junipenis communis. 



A shrub or small tree in the East, but westward often attaining a height 

 of 60 to 90 feet. 



Habitat. — In sterile or rocky soil ; common. 



Parts Used. — Of J. communis : the fruit — United States Pharmacopoeia. 

 Of J. Virginiana : the tops — formerly official, but dropped from the Phar- 

 macopoeia in 1880. 



Constituents. — Juniper berries contain a small percentage of fragrant 

 volatile oil, a peculiar principle termed juniperin, and common vegetable 

 principles. Ked cedar contains volatile oil, resin, and common vegetable 

 principles. 



