Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
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.
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.
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).
Myoporum insulare, commonly known as common boobialla, native juniper, [3] is a species of flowering plant in the figwort family Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to coastal areas of Australia. It is a shrub or small tree which grows on dunes and coastal cliffs, is very salt tolerant and widely used in horticulture.
flowers Juniper berry: Juniperus communis and related species: Cupressaceae: small tree or shrub: culinary, medicinal, fragrance: cones Kencur: Kaempferia galanga: Zingiberaceae: perennial herb [10] culinary, medicinal rhizome one of several plants known as galangal: Cǎoguǒ: Lanxangia tsaoko: Zingiberaceae: perennial herb culinary, medicinal ...
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 ]
Juniperus macrocarpa (syn. J. oxycedrus subsp. macrocarpa) – large-fruited juniper. Mediterranean coastal sands. Mediterranean coastal sands. Broader leaves ( 2–3 mm or 1 ⁄ 16 – 1 ⁄ 8 in wide), and larger cones ( 12–18 mm or 1 ⁄ 2 – 11 ⁄ 16 in wide).
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.