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Juniper berries

 

Juniper

Harilik kadakas

Juniperus communis

 

There are berries on junipers all year round. Biologically they are fleshy cones – berry-like cones that take one year and a half to ripen. In their first year the cones are green, hard and covered by a resin film; when ripe they are bluish-black and covered by a visible white-grey wax layer. The greatest harvests come at intervals of three to five years, but the bushes are never quite empty. Sunny locations always provide the best yield and the dark berries can be picked all through the year.