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Names: Juniper, Mountain Yew Gaelic Names: Aitionn, Caoran Staoin Uses: Edible, Medicinal, Other Description and Climate: An evergreen with opposing scale-like leaves, berries are small and blue to blue-green to sometimes purple. Likes dry, open hills.

Many different types of Juniper grow here in Colorado. I like to call them the "Aitionn Tuatha" or Juniper Tribe. Aitionn in Gaelic translates to "sharp tree" or at "sharp" and tenn "tree". It's other Gaelic name is "Caoran Staoin" or "Lazy Berry" in reference to the berries of the Juniper that take two years to ripen. Growing up in Colorado one can begin to see them as mundane, but when you start to get to know them your eyes will open! Remember that the berries of the Aitionn are relied upon by many birds and some animals here in Colorado. Do not take more than you need!

The berries can provide a source for emergency food. The berries are the most common edible portion of the Juniper. The berries take two years to ripen, ripening only after two summers. Once ripe they can be cooked into a mush and dried into cakes for later use. The berries can be added to meat dishes for flavoring; specifically meats like: venison, elk, and lamb. They can be good in stews and soups either dried and whole or ground like pepper. The berries are also a good coffee substitute when dried and ground. The inner bark of the tree (though it tastes pretty damn bad) can be eaten in times where there is nothing else.

There are many medicinal uses for Juniper. Regarding first-aid uses the berries can be boiled to extract the oils and waxes, mixed with fat and used as a salve for cuts and wounds to the skin. A strong Juniper tea can be used to sterilize needles, knives, and bandages before use.

Juniper needles can be dried and ground for dusting areas of skin diseases. Juniper smoke or steam can be inhaled to relieve chest colds and lung infections in general. Some studies have even shown the berries to bring down blood sugar levels, hinting that for emergency situations the berries may be eaten to aid insulin dependant diabetes.

Juniper berry tea is excellent for aiding in digestion and stimulating appetite. The tea was also given to mothers soon after giving birth to help tone the uterus and minimize bleeding.

Juniper branches can be bound into a smudge and burned to repel insects, which is MUCH better for the skin than DEET ever was. The berries can be dried on strings, hung over the smoke of a greasy fire and polished to make shiny black beads for necklaces. A good way to achieve this is by taking the berries you wish to use for necklace and spreading them on an anthill. The ants will eat out the sweet center leaving a little hole just right for stringing.

The wood of Juniper is very strong and was used to make lances and bows, which, when treated gives off a deep red color, seemingly "died-in-blood". The branches can be boiled to make a hair rinse with anti-dandruff qualities. The bark, branches, and berries can produce a brown die using the ash from burned green needles as a mordant.

The smoke from the Juniper branches and berries is said to bring good luck to hunters, and to be a protection from evil spirits, disease, and witches. The bough may be hung in the home to protect from thunder and lightning.