Einer
Plant genus: Juniper (Juniperus)
Plant family: Cypress family (Cupressaceae)
The family name Juniperus is the old Latin name for juniper. The second part of the species name, communis , is Latin and means “as usual”. This is a particularly appropriate name as juniper is the world’s most widespread conifer.
Initial distribution
The distribution of the juniper extends over the northern hemisphere. We find it growing wild in large parts of Europe and Asia, as well as North Africa and North America. Junipers are very frugal and can grow from the beach zone to above the tree line up to 2400 meters.
Juniper is the only species in the cypress family that grows wild in Norway, but there are probably two subspecies; one that grows up to ( Juniperus communis ssp. communis) and one that grows across the forest border ( Juniperus communis ssp. nana).
When and how did it come to Norway?
Junipers were among the first plants to colonize Norway after the last ice age. Today we find it wild-growing in almost the whole country, from sea level to as high as 1730 meters in Lom. Junipers are thus the coniferous tree that in Norway extends far to the north and highest up in the mountains.
Eineren has played a major role in Norwegian tradition and culture, also when it comes to Christmas. In certain areas, junipers have traditionally been fired on Christmas Eve, and in Western Norway (where the spruce has little or no distribution) it was also used as a Christmas tree.
Size, age and appearance
The size and shape of the juniper is characterized by the environment it lives in and it will therefore be able to look very variable; everything from creeping rock forms to wide shrubs and creating trees. An upright and single-stemmed juniper can grow up to 25 meters high. The highest specimen documented in Norway was as much as 17.5 meters. Junipers can also be very old, up to 2000 years. A 1070-year-old individual has been registered in Finland.
The bark of junipers is thin and scaly, often chipped into thin strips. The wood is tough, without resin channels and smells strong.
For most species in the genus Einers, the shape of the leaves will change as they get older, they will go from needle-shaped to shell-shaped leaves in mature age (think thuja-like). Our juniper, on the other hand, retains its needle shape for life.
The needles for junipers are 1 cm long, pointed with a light back. In the bright field are the slit openings, small holes that the plant uses to “breathe in” carbon dioxide from the air and “exhale” oxygen – which is actually a waste product of photosynthesis. The needles are fastened together three by three as wreaths around the shot.
Junipers are usually peculiar, meaning that a single plant is either female or male. Only the female plants will produce the characteristic juniper berries. Despite the name, juniper berries are not real berries. The juniper produces berry cones which are a kind of soft cone with 1 to 2 hard seeds inside. The junipers change color from green to blue-black as they ripen, which can take up to 3 years. On the same juniper bush you will be able to find both immature green and ripe, blue-black berry cones.
How to recognize junipers?
Some of the characteristic features of juniper are that it has needles arranged in 3-number wreaths (three and three needles fastened together around the shoot), as well as fleshy and blue-black berry cones.
References
Aune, EI (2020, Nov. 20) Einer. In Store norske leksikon . https://snl.no/einer [2020, November 29]
Caudullo, G., Welk, E., Sa-Miguel-Ayanz, J., 2017. Chorological maps for the main European woody species. Data in Letter 12, 662-666. http: // doi.org/10.1016/j.dib.2017.05.007 Data:
https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.5110744
Enescu, CM, Houston Durrant, T., Caudullo, G., & de Rigo, D. (2016). Juniperus communis in Europe: Distribution, habitat, usage and threats. In: San-Miguel-Ayanz, J .; of Rigo, D .; Caudullo, G .; Houston Durrant, T .; Mauri, A. (eds.) European Atlas of Forest Tree Species (pp. 104). Luxembourg: Publication Office of the European Union. https://ies-ows.jrc.ec.europa.eu/efdac/download/Atlas/pdf/Juniperus_communis.pdf
Hansen, E. & Hansen, OB (2007 ). Trees and shrubs for Norwegian gardens . Oslo, Norway: Tun forlag
Schulz, C., Knopf, P., & Stützel, TH (2005). Identification key to the Cypress family (Cupressaceae). Feddes Repertorium: Zeitschrift für botanische Taxonomie und Geobotanik , 116 (1‐2), 96-146. https://doi.org/10.1002/fedr.200411062
Tirmenstein, D. (1999). Juniperus communis. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. US Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/shrub/juncom/all.html [2020, November 29].