How to Identify Juniper

Juniper plants are often cultivated in gardens and used in wreaths and potpourris. They are pretty and have a pleasing aroma. Juniper also grows in the wild and can be useful for wilderness survival. Knowing how to positively identify and use juniper can help you stay alive if you are lost and without food.

Instructions

    • 1

      Find a dry, open area with plenty of sunlight. Juniper plants thrive in arid deserts, though they frequently grow elsewhere. Often they can be found in the mountains. Juniper is an evergreen, so it can be found any time of year.

    • 2

      Look for a cedar-like shrub or tree. It will have thin, scaly, needle-like leaves. They will be short, about a centimeter long, and clumped closely to the branches.

    • 3

      Look for the blue berries that distinguish juniper plants from cedars. These blue berries are at the ends of the branches. They have a very pungent pine or cedar aroma, and are used to flavor gin.

    • 4

      Feel for a sticky, resinous sap. This sap will have a very strong aroma.

    • 5

      Collect the berries and twigs from the juniper plant. The berries can be eaten raw, or can be used to flavor other food, such as meat. Boil young twigs in water to make a fragrant tea.

    • 6

      Clump some juniper branches together and burn them to repel insects.