JUNIPERUS L. - JUNIPER
Scientific Description:
Dioecious or monoecious evergreen shrubs or trees. Bark thin. Leaves on young branches acicular and rigid; mature leaves either acicular, rigid, jointed at the base, in whorls of three, or scale-like and decussate, rarely short, acicular and not jointed. Male flowers of numerous stamens. Female flowers surrounded at the base by small persistent bracts, composed of 3−8 scales which form a hard, fleshy fruit, ripening in 1−3 years. Seeds unwinged.
Reference:
Coode MJE & Cullen J (1965). Juniperus L., In: Davis PH (ed.), Flora of Turkey and the East Aegean Islands, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, 1: 78.
Public Description:
Juniperus is a genus of evergreen shrubs or trees, known as “junipers”, is distributed in throughout the Northern Hemisphere. There are approximately 74 species in the world and 7 species (12 taxa) in Türkiye. Junipers are generally long trees with different sizes and shapes and can reach about 20 to 40 meters in length. However, ground-cover dwarf junipers are often used in urban landscape and road layouts. They are evergreen with needle-like and/or scale-like leaves. Juniper fruits are among the spices commonly used in meals. Many of the early prehistoric people lived around the juniper forests and used this tree for their needs such as shelter, kitchen utensils and warming. Animal studies have shown that treatment with juniper may retard the development of diabetes in mice.
References:
Anonymous 1 (2016). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juniper/, Accessed date: 07.02.2016.
Anonymous 2 (2016). http://www.theplantlist.org/1.1/browse/G/Cupressaceae/Juniperus//, Accessed date: 07.02.2016.
Alpınar K (2012). Juniperus L., In: Güner, A., Aslan, S., Ekim, T., Vural, M. & Babaç, M.T. (eds.), Türkiye Bitkileri Listesi (Damarlı Bitkiler). Nezahat Gökyiğit Botanik Bahçesi ve Flora Araştırmaları Derneği Yayını. İstanbul, pp. 12–14.
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