JUNIPER
If you drive up the Bostal Road out of Steyning, you may never have noticed an unpreposessing bank of scrub on the right-hand side of the road. Curiously enough, some of the evergreen shrubs on this bank are, in fact, Juniper (Juniperus communis L.)
Juniper is thought to have been one of the first plants to colonise the UK after the last Ice Age and has a long history of myths & legends about it. If you are worried about a witch entering your house, then it might be helpful to plant a Juniper bush nearby!
Of course it is now mainly associated with gin, its berries being used in the manufacturing process.
Regrettably this shrub has suffered serious decline over the last 50 years or so, due to changing farming practices, grazing pressure from rabbits, deer and rodents, and shading by other plants. In fact, some southern counties have lost up to 70% of their population and it faces extinction in lowland Britain within 50 years. It is also threatened by insect damage from the juniper berry mite. As the plants can be either male or female, they need to grow in groups rather than in isolation otherwise no new seedlings will be produced. They can grow up to 10 metres tall & live for up to 200 years, but are more usually seen as low scrubby bushes.
Juniper is thought to have been one of the first plants to colonise the UK after the last Ice Age and has a long history of myths & legends about it. If you are worried about a witch entering your house, then it might be helpful to plant a Juniper bush nearby!
Of course it is now mainly associated with gin, its berries being used in the manufacturing process.
Regrettably this shrub has suffered serious decline over the last 50 years or so, due to changing farming practices, grazing pressure from rabbits, deer and rodents, and shading by other plants. In fact, some southern counties have lost up to 70% of their population and it faces extinction in lowland Britain within 50 years. It is also threatened by insect damage from the juniper berry mite. As the plants can be either male or female, they need to grow in groups rather than in isolation otherwise no new seedlings will be produced. They can grow up to 10 metres tall & live for up to 200 years, but are more usually seen as low scrubby bushes.
Update: October 2011
The Steyning Coombe bush, definitely a female, has produced two seedlings. Let's hope they develop to maturity.
The Steyning Coombe bush, definitely a female, has produced two seedlings. Let's hope they develop to maturity.
If we were to lose Juniper entirely then we would also lose the 40 or so species of insects and fungi that depend on it. Of course, it's berries also provide food animals & birds, especially thrushes, fieldfares & waxwings.
In addition to one lonely but notable bush growing on the Steyning Coombe, The Steyning Downland Scheme is lucky to have this small but important colony of Juniper on it's site and will endeavour to care for it properly in spite of its somewhat precarious & vulnerable location!
