Juniper Cupressaceae Juniperus communis
Juniper
A Juniper with a Spiderweb
Common Name: Juniper (common)
Botanical or Scientific Name: Cupressaceae Juniperus communis
Other Names: Western Juniper, Rocky Mountain Red Cedar, Dwarf Juniper, Mountain Common Juniper, Old Field Common Juniper (there are many names, for many species of Juniper)
Genus and Species: Junipers are coniferous plants in the genus Juniperus of the cypress family Cupressaceae.
Type: An evergreen coniferous shrubby tree of the cypress family. There are many different junipers in the world.
Physical Description: A wide and low tree with an irregularly rounded crown. A knotty, twisted trunk. Often has a “bonsai” look to it.
Needle: Small (1/8 inch), scale-like and tight against the branches. Backsides of needles bear inconspicuous glands. Pale, yellowish green when young, greyish-green, green or blue-ish when mature. Appear in pairs, overlapping but covering the twig in four rows.
Form: Small tree or large shrub; shape is variable but often short with a round crown.
Size: Rocky Mountain Juniper can reach 13 metres in height
Flower: Dioecious; both male and female flowers are small (1/8 inch) and occur at branch tips; males oblong and females nearly round. Males are nearly yellow, females greener.
Fruit: Round, bluish berry-like cones (1/3… Continue reading
The First Thing You Need
The First Thing You Need
Basics of Identifying and Researching Plants
STOP! Before you do anything, before we go any further, before I wax poetic about the worship of Nature and reverence for the Earth, before we discuss meditations on plants, before we talk correspondences or magickal properties. Before any of that, there is one thing you need, and some skills you must learn. This is for your own and Nature’s safety. The thing you need is a field guide, and one of the skills is how to use a field guide. A field guide is often times the best first step towards the other skills you must learn; identifying and researching plants.
Sounds terribly boring, doesn’t it? It’s natural to want to jump right in, making incense, collecting plant totems, hugging trees, walking through the forest barefoot. But what if it turns out the incense irritates your lungs? What if the plant you cut to make your totem was not the plant you thought it was? What if the tree you hugged produces oil that irritates your skin? What if, while walking barefoot through the woods, you step on some poison ivy?
Before we talk the spirituality of a… Continue reading
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