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Juniper berries are sometimes regarded as arils, [3] like the berry-like cones of yews. Juniperus communis berries vary from 4 millimetres ( 1 ⁄ 8 inch) to 12 millimetres ( 1 ⁄ 2 inch) in diameter; other species are mostly similar in size, though some are larger, notably J. drupacea ( 20–28 mm or 3 ⁄ 4 – 1 + 1 ⁄ 8 in).
The fruit are berry-like cones known as juniper berries. They are initially green, ripening in 18 months to purple-black with a blue waxy coating; they are spherical, 4–12 mm ( 5 ⁄ 32 – 15 ⁄ 32 in) diameter, and usually have three (occasionally six) fleshy fused scales, each scale with a single seed.
A small quantity of ripe berries can be eaten as an emergency food or as a sage-like seasoning for meat. The dried berries can be roasted and ground into a coffee substitute. [10] Utah juniper is an aromatic plant. Essential oil extracted from the trunk and limb is prominent in α-pinene, δ-3-carene, and cis-thujopsene.
Juniper berries are a spice used in a wide variety of culinary dishes and are best known for the primary flavoring in gin (and responsible for gin's name, which is a shortening of the Dutch word for juniper, jenever). A juniper-based spirit is made by fermenting juniper berries and water to create a "wine" that is then distilled.
The cones are berry-like, with soft resinous flesh, subglobose to ovoid, 5–7 mm long, dark blue with a pale blue-white waxy bloom, and contain a single seed (rarely two or three); they mature in about 6–8 months from pollination, and are eaten by birds and mammals. [5] The male cones are 2–4 mm long, and shed their pollen in late winter.
Juniperus recurva, commonly named the Himalayan juniper [2] or drooping juniper, is a juniper native to the Himalaya, from northern Pakistan, through India, Nepal and Bhutan, to western Yunnan in southwestern China. It grows at altitudes of 3,000–4,000 metres (9,800–13,100 feet).
Juniper berries are used as a seasoning in cooking or in alcoholic beverages, [6] particularly to flavor gin. [ 8 ] [ 9 ] Juniper berries have also been used in traditional medicine for different conditions, although there is no high-quality clinical evidence that it has any effect. [ 8 ]
[13] [14] They gathered the berries to eat fresh and to grind into meal for baking. [5] The wood was also used for sinew-backed bows. [15] J. californica is cultivated as an ornamental plant, as a dense shrub (and eventual tree) for use in habitat gardens, heat and drought-tolerant gardens, and in natural landscaping design. [5]