JUNIPERUS COMMUNIS AND VARIETIES. 275 



green on the under. The fruit is used in considerable quantities 

 on the Continent in the preparation of gin, and in medicine it 

 is a powerful diuretic." * 



The common Juniper is not unfrequent in a wild state in England, 

 notably on the North Downs in Surrey, where, on the slopes, either 

 solitary or in clumps, it often forms a low tree of from 8 to 12 feet 

 high. In this form, when furnished with branches from the ground, 

 it is by no means an inelegant tree. In other places, its form varies 

 much according to situation, from a low scrubby bush to a small tree 

 with an undivided trunk. 



Juniperus communis compressa. — A compact little shrub of 

 conical form, attaining the height of only a few inches. The 

 branches and branchlets are slender, erect, and grow close together; 

 the leaves are short, thin, and bright green. 



It is one of the smallest of Conifers ; the very diminutive size of 

 the plant rendering it interesting. It is found on the Pyrenees at 

 5,000 feet of elevation, f 



Juniperus communis cracovia is known in gardens as the 

 Polish Juniper, from its having been brought from the neighbour- 

 hood of Cracow. It is an erect robust variety, with abundance 

 of foliage, and when growing in strong loamy soils the terminal 

 branchlets are pendulous. It is intermediate between. the English 

 and Swedish forms. 



Juniperus communis hibernica is the upright Irish Juniper. 

 The branches are erect, with numerous rigid, close-set, erect branch- 

 lets, clothed with leaves shorter and deeper green than in the 

 common kind. The habit is columnar rather than pyramidal, and 

 it is one of the handsomest of all the varieties of /. communis. 



Juniperus communis nana is a dwarf procumbent shrub with 

 short branches and branchlets covered with short, sharp pointed, 

 needle-like leaves, glaucous above and green beneath. It is found 

 in all the Alpine districts of northern Europe and Asia, from 



• Dr. Lindley, Eng. Cyclop., iii., p. 311. 



t Hence hibernica compressa, the name under which this variety is frequently found in 

 nursery lists, is an hibernicism. 



