Juniper

Juniperus communis

The juniper can be used as protection against diseases, as a medicine and for cleaning the human body – and buildings, too. It helps against asthma, severe colds and fever. Dishes, buildings and other things can be cleaned with an infusion of juniper twigs. The hair becomes clean and shiny, if it is washed with such an infusion; loss of hair also decreases. A person can cleanse him/herself by drinking such juniper tea and by bathing in it. The infusion has also been fed to cows. The smoke of the juniper also cleans. It has been used to keep the mosquitoes away and for smoking fish. The blue berries of the juniper can be picked and dried. Tea made out of them helps against urinary problems, stomach pain and whooping-cough. Earlier, evil spirits were driven away by burning juniper wood.

In Finland, the juniper is usually a bushy tree, and, high on the fells, it does not even grow upwards but follows the ground. It is a dioecious plant, and its cone resembles a berry. These “berries” ripen the third year after the tree has bloomed, changing colour from green to blue. Juniper timber has a strong smell. The berries have ethereal oil, which contains, for example, camphor, tannic acids and vitamin C. The leaves, too, contain vitamin C, as well as minerals and protein. The juniper grows slowly and can live for 2000 years.