Juniper is one of our few native evergreen trees (Yew, Holly, Box and Scots Pine are the others). It is unusual; able to grow on acid and alkaline soils, and dioecious (plants are either male or female. Most trees have both male and female flowers). Female trees produce berries. The seeds are dispersed by birds, which eat the berries. Some species of bird (such as the goldcrest and song thrush) nest in juniper. At least 19 invertebrate species are known to live only on juniper. It can grow as a tall, straight tree or as a bushy, spreading shrub.
Populations of juniper are declining rapidly in the UK, perhaps because they require very specific habitat conditions. Juniper is not tolerant of shade, so needs open, bare or grazed soil, but young seedlings are also attractive to grazing animals such as sheep, deer and rabbits.
Fleam Dyke in Cambridgeshire has the only remaining native juniper population in East Anglia. The Cambridge Green Belt Project has been working to preserve this population, clearing scrub from around the bushes and keeping rabbits and sheep away from the young seedlings. Cuttings have also been taken and the plants established in pots. Some of these have been replanted on Fleam Dyke.
Juniper berries are used to flavour gin and have also been used similar to a spice in cookery, for example to flavour game through marinades and sauces, rubbing roast lamb, pork or beef, etc. Some of the wood was often used in smoking ham and bacon. On the continent the berries have also been used to flavour sauerkraut. In ancient Egypt Juniper oil was one of the oils used in the process of mummification to preserve dead bodies. More recently the oil is used as an ingredient in soaps and perfumes.
For more information about juniper and its conservation, see:
Find out about what's been seen on our sightings page, or take a look at details of some of the projects and sites that we work on.
