Juniperus, Juniper

Abhal (Unani)

Juniper
Gart der Gesundheit, Cuba, 1485

Herbarius latinus, Petri, 1485

Ortus Sanitatis, Meydenbach, 1491

Koehler’s Medizinal Pflanzen, 1887

Botanical name:

Juniperus communis

Parts used:

Fruit; rarely the Wood or Gum

Temperature & Taste:

Warm, dry. Pungent, Bitter
“Some physicians hold it to be Hot and Dry in the Third degree”. (Avicenna)

Classifications:

2B ATTENUATERS. 2D ATTENUATERS OF CONGEALED BLOOD. 2F. PURIFYING. 2H. CARMINATIVE. 2I. ANTISPASMODIC
2S. STRENGTHENING
3A. SUDORIFICS & DIAPHORETICS. 3C. ALEXIPHARMIC. 3E. DIURETIC. 3F. LITHONTRIPTIC. 3G. EMMENAGOGUE.   3K. EXPECTORANT
3L. ANTI-TUSSIVE.
4a. CEPHALIC. 4e. STOMACHIC. 4h. NEPHRITIC. 4i. UTERINE.   4j. NERVINE

Uses:

1. Warms and Strengthen the Kidneys, Clears Damp, Promotes Urine:

-promotes Urine, clears slime from the Kidney and Bladder
-Gravel, Stones (Kneipp)
-Arthritis, chronic Rheumatism, Osteoarthritis, chronic Back Pain, Sciatica
-Diabetes
-“Juniper berries boiled in wine cure strangulation and pains in the Hips”. (Dorsetn, 1540)
-“Juniper berries … consume evil humors in man, in whatever way they are consumed”. (Dorsetn, 1540)

2. Warms the Uterus, Promotes Menstruation:

-promotes Menstruation (Hippocrates)
-Uterine obstructions, chronic Uterine swelling
-Infertility
-Promotes Labor (Hippocrates)
-taken in the last weeks of pregnancy to facilitate easier birth
-Leukorrhea (Hippocrates)
-very good for Hysteria and Uterine pain (Avicenna)

3. Resists Poison:

-Alexipharmic, promotes Sweat, Cordial, resists Poison
-protects from infection in Plague and Epidemic diseases (Matthiolus)
-Chewing a Juniper berry was said to prevent Infection
-Blood purification (Paracelsus)
-chronic skin rashes, scabies, herpes, persistent ulcers
-Wood has been used for Syphilis
-“good against the Plague, and all other Malign Fevers … the biting of Mad Dogs, or any other venomous Creature”. (Salmon)
-“It cures Quartan Fever if taken daily in the weight of one drachm with food, or in any other way”. (Dorsetn, 1540)
-“counteracts the adverse effects of Insect Bites and Smoking” (Avicenna)
-“Incense made from juniper wood cures pestilential air”. (Dorsetn, 1540)

4. Warms the Stomach, Opens Obstructions:

-weakness of the digestive system; bloating, indigestion
-opens the Spleen; swelling of the Spleen or Liver
-Gall Stones (Kneipp)
-Wind, Colic, Flatulence
-“very good for the Stomach” (Avicenna)

5. Clears Cold Phlegm, Stops Cough:

-benefits the Lungs, for Cough, Whooping Cough, shortness of Breath
-Lung disorders (Hildegard)
-“very effective in cases of chest pain and Cough” (Avicenna)

6. Warms the Brain, Settles Wind, Clears Damp:

-strengthens the Brain and Nerves, helps Epilepsy, Apoplexy, Paralysis (Wood and Berry)
-Nerve weakness or dysfunction from Wind-Damp
-Frenzy and Madness (Salmon)
-Strengthens the Sight and Memory

7. Regulates the Heart:

-tincture can be used instead of Digitalis (Bachmaier)

8. Externally:

-the Gum discusses, condenses, good for the Nerves when cooled and contracted
-wood shavings were sewn into caps for the Brain and Nerves; also in fumigations
-Joint Pains, Rheumatism, Osteoarthritis, Gout, Sciatica (oil, in washes or baths)
-Oil strengthens the Nerves (Haller)
-Earache or Tinnitus (oil or fumes topically)
-“when cooked with sesame oil in an iron pan till the nut grows black are used as ear drops, help in Deafness”. (Avicenna)
-smoke is inhaled for Toothache
-applied to the sutures of the skull for Epilepsy, Apoplexy, Vertigo, Migraine; topically for nerve diseases, Lameness, Paralysis etc. (oil)
-Wounds, Fistulas (Hippocrates)
-the gum dries Ulcers and fills them with flesh
-“Its powder is useful when sprinkled with honey on corroding, putrid and spreading black ulcers”. (Avicenna)
-the smoke or incense of the leaves and wood was said to drive away infection and purify corrupted air. French Hospitals at the end of the 19th century still burned Juniper berries and Rosemary to purify the air
-Oil applied every 4 hours with a feather, relieves Hemorrhoids
-bark ashes are applied to skin conditions

Dose:

Fruit in Decoction: 3–9 grams;
Fruit in Powder: 1–3 grams
Powdered Wood: 3–6 grams, up to 15 grams for Syphilis
Fruit Tincture (1:5 in 75% alcohol): 1–3 or 4 mls, 2-3 times daily;
Essential Oil: 1–3 drops, up to 5 drops taken on sugar, in egg yolk, or in a suitable syrup;
Spirit of Juniper (B.P.): 20–60 drops;
Solid Extract: 300mg–1 gram.
Ripe Berries: 10–12 may be eaten every morning, or up to 3 times daily. One old method of use was to take 4 berries the first day, 5 on the second, 6 on the third, continuing for 12 days until 15 berries are reached, then reducing by one berry per day until 5 are taken, this constituting a course of treatment;
Bath: 100–200 grams for Arthritis, Rheumatism etc.

Correctives:

Honey, Butter

Substitute:

1. Indian leaf and Rue (for the Stomach)
2. “Cinnamon, twice in quantity serves the same purpose as Juniper does”. (Avicenna)

Main Combinations:

Urinary

1. Strengthen the Kidneys and promote Urine:
i. Juniper with Licorice, Aniseed
ii. Juniper with Parsley root and seed, Asparagus root
2. Promote Urine in Edema, fluid swelling, Dampness:
i. from Cold and Weak Kidneys, Juniper with Parsley
ii. with Liver sluggishness, with Wormwood
iii. Juniper with Aniseed, Caraway, Coriander seed
iv. Juniper with Caraway, Fennel (Compound Spirit of Juniper, London Pharmacopoea)
v. Cold Kidneys, Juniper with Cinnamon and Orange peel (Electuary of Juniper, Pharmacopoeia Sardoa, 1773)
vi. Juniper with Birch leaf, Broom, Dandelion root (Krug)
vii. Juniper with Mustard seed, Horseradish (Diuretic Wine, Pharmacopoeia extemporanea, Augustin, 1822)
viii. Juniper with Mustard seed, Carrot seed, Wormwood (Pharmacopoeia medici practici universalis, Bruxelles, 1817)
ix. with Cold-Phlegm Juniper with Ginger, Horseradish, Squill, Wormwood, Lesser Centaury
x. Juniper with Parsley seed, Fennel seed (2 drams each), Juniper wood, Senega root, Couch Grass root, Dandelion root, Chicory root (2 oz. each). Infuse 1 tablespoonful in 1.5 liters of water and drink over the day. (‘Selle’s Diaphoretic-Diuretic Tea)
xi. Juniper with Zedoary, Squill, Cinnamon (Pharmacopoeia extemporanea, Augustin, 1822)
xii. Diuretic Wine, Juniper with Squill, Orange peel, Wormwood, Angelica, Calamus
xiii. Rob of Juniper berries (1 oz.), Parsley Water (6 oz.), Oxymel of Squill, Syrup of Buckthorn (½ oz. each)
3. To strongly promote Urine:
i. Juniper with Squill
ii. Juniper (4 parts), Squill (2 parts), Foxglove (1 part)
iii. Squill, Digitalis (½ scruple each), Gentian (1 scruple), Oil of Juniper (8 drops), make 12 pills with syrup of Buckthorn. (Sobernheim, 1840)
iv. Oil of Juniper (½ dram), Spirit of Cinnamon, Tincture of Digitalis (½ oz. each). Dose: 20–30 drops in water
v. Juniper with Saltpeter, Squill
4. Dysuria, Juniper with Marshmallow root, Tansy
5. Urinary retention, Juniper with Celery seed, Saltpeter, Madder, Asarum, Fennel seed, Indian Spikenard, Bitter Almond, Melon seed (as in Pills for Retention of Urine)
6. Stones, Juniper, Parsley, Pellitory, Agrimony, Mercury (herb), Marshmallow as an emollient cataplasm for Stones

Joint:

7. Lumbago:
i. Juniper, Walnut
ii. Juniper, Comfrey
iii. Juniper, Tansy, Bearberry, Bog Bean, Blue Cohosh (Valuable Herbal Prescriptions, late ‘s)
8. Sciatica, Juniper with Poplar tremuloides bark (1 oz. each), Myrica cerifera (half oz.), Ginger (quarter oz.). Decoct in a quart (approx 1 liter) of water for 5 minutes. Take a wineglassful 3 or 4 times daily. (Valuable Herbal Prescriptions, late ‘s)
Stomach, Digestion:
9. Nervous indigestion, Juniper, Gentian, Valerian
10. Colic, Juniper, Betony decocted in water (Herbarium Horstianum, 1630)
11. Gastritis, Colitis, Juniper with Mint, Wormwood, Camomile (Tschirner)

Gynecology:

12. To Promote Menstruation, Juniper with Bay berry, Rosemary, Cinnamon, Saffron (as in Decoction Against Retention of Menstruation)
13. Obstruction of the Uterus, decoction of Juniper, Betony, Balm, Pennyroyal (Herbarium Horstianum, 1630)
14. To promote Labor or expel a Dead Fetus, take 4 ounces of Juniper Water. (Secrets of Alexis)
Acute Disease/Epidemic Disease:
15. Against Poison and Infection:
i. Juniper with Earth of Lemnos (as in King Nicomedes Antidote)
ii. Juniper, Walnut, Fig, Rue
iii. Preservative during Epidemics, Juniper with Angelica, Dittany, Cinnamon, Sealed Earth, Coral, Pearl, Saffron, Camphor (as in Antidote of Juniper Berry)
16. Wind-Cold diseases of the Head, Headache Epilepsy Dizziness Vertigo:
i. Juniper with Peony, Calamus, Mistletoe, Betony, Sage, Rue, Peony, Rosemary (as in Cephalic Decoction of Charras)

Head, Brain, Nerves

17. Dizziness, Vertigo:
i. Juniper with Betony, Centaury (Wirtzung)
ii. Juniper with Sage, Lavender, Hyssop, Mint, Clove, Nutmeg, Zedoary, Galangal, Calamus, Peony seed
18. Apoplexy, Juniper with Rosemary, Sage, Lavender (as in Wine for Apoplexy)

Liver, Blood:

19. Cleanse the Blood, Juniper with Yarrow and Water Cress (Fischer)
20. Liver inflammation, Juniper with Agrimony, Cleavers, Yarrow, Centaury, Dandelion (as in Decoction for Hepatitis)
21. Scrofula, Juniper with Burnt Sponge and Rosehip (as in Powder of Burnt Sponge)

Major Formulas:

Decoction Against Retention of Menstruation
Syrup of Mugwort (Augustana)
Powder of Juniper for Vertigo (Wirtzung)
Powder of Maximillian for Gravel
Tincture of Juniper Compound
Pills for Retention of Urine (Wirtzung)

1. Sudorific Powder:
i. Juniper wood, Burdock root (6 parts), Couch Grass root, Juniper berry (3 parts), Licorice (2 parts) (Pharmacopoeia Rossica, 1803)
2. Green Ointment:
i. Green Juniper berries (3 oz.), Fresh herbs of Southernwood, Mugwort, Easter Daisy, Betony, Fennel, Hyssop, Mint, Liverwort, Yarrow, Marjoram, Plantain, Veronica, Vervain, Sage, Rue (of each 1 oz.), Butter (48 oz.). Boil until the herbs crisp, then strain.
Externally for Bruising, Trauma and Pain; internally after Trauma in a dose of 1–2 spoonfuls. (Pharmacopoeia Generalis, 1783)

Cautions:

1. Not used in full doses during Pregnancy, except when used to prepare for Labor.
2. Not in acute Kidney inflammation
3. Not used in Heat conditions
4. One-third of all Hay Fever sufferers are said to be allergic to Juniper

Toxicity:

LD50 for Juniper oil is 8g/kg (orally, in rats).

Main Preparations used:

Oil was distilled from both Fruit and Wood, Distilled Water, Spirit, Salt from the Ashes, Honey of Juniper, Extract of the Berries, Tincture of Juniper Berry

1. Conserve of Juniper:
i. Fresh Juniper berries (8 oz.), bruise them, adding gradually White Sugar (4 oz). Heat slightly to dissolve the Sugar. (Pharmacopoeia medici practici universalis, Bruxelles, 1817)
2. Tincture of Juniper
Juniper Berries 5 oz.
Spirit of Wine 20 oz.
Digest in gentle warmth to extract a Tincture.
Used for Dropsy, Stone and Colic. It opens, discusses, resolves, attenuates, and dissipates, provokes Urine and Sweat, promotes Menstruation, opens obstructions of the Liver and Spleen, and strengthens the Brain, Nerves, Breast, Stomach and Lungs, and indeed all the viscera; it cures Coughs, Hoarseness, Asthma’s; expels Wind in Colic. But most of all it dissolves all Sandy, Viscous, Slimy or Tartarous substances of the urinary system.
Rolsincius said it “is a wonderful thing … in depuration of the Blood, and preserves from Pestilential contagion”; said to be a “great preservative against the malignity of the Plague, and all Infectious and Pestilential Airs”.
“It is a singular thing against both Palsies, Convulsions and Rheumatisms, being daily taken inwardly in a fit dose, and outwardly bathing the parts affected therewith morning and evening”.
Dose: 3 spoonfuls.
3. Juniper Water:
i. Juniper (2 parts), Water (15 parts); distil 4 parts. (Pharmacopoeia Sardoa, 1773)
4. Spirit of Juniper:
i. Juniper (1 part), Alcohol (12 parts); macerate 24 hours, distil. (Pharmacia rationalis, 1806)
ii. Juniper (15 lbs.), Sugar (half pound), Yeast (2 oz.). Add a sufficient quantity of warm water to mix the whole well together, and keep warm to ferment; after the fermentation, pour it into an alembic: add twice its quantity of water, and eight pounds of spirit from grain. Distil a Spirit from 18–20%. (Pharmacia rationalis, 1806)
“They (Spirit and Distilled Water) are very proper to free the Reins and Ureters from Gravel and viscous matters which stop the Passages, and hinder the Urine from having its course. They are also very useful in all cold maladies of the Brain’. Also used to kill Worms”. (French Pharmacopoeia)
iii. Spirit of the fresh fruit:
“It is a singular Carminative, Diuretic, and Stomatick; expels Wind, as also Sand and Gravel in the Reins, provokes the Terms, and is egregiously powerful in curing or removing Barrenness”. (Pharmacopoeia Bateana)
5. Extract of Juniper:
i. Juniper herb (1 part), Warm Water (4 parts), infuse for 48 hours, stirring occasionally; strain, set aside, and decant the liquor; evaporate slowly to an extract. (Formulaire Pharmaceutitique a l’usage des Hospitaux Militaires de France, 1821)
ii. Juniper, any quantity. Reduce to a pulp with sufficient water, then boil for 15 minutes; strain through a sieve and express the residue. Dissolve 1 part Sugar in four parts of liquor and evaporate to the consistency of an extract. (Dispensatorium medico pharmaceuticum Palatinatus, 1764)
6. Elixir of Juniper:
Juniper berries, well bruised
Infuse them in their own Distilled Water which has been impregnated with their own Salt; strain, and inspissate to the consistency of an Extract, or Honey. Mix this with 12 times as much of the rectified Spirit of Juniper; digest in the Sun, or a gentle B.M. for 40 days.
“Very great secret in the Stone and all Pestilential distempers”.
Dose: 1 spoonful. (Salmon)
7. Hydragogue Potion:
A potent diuretic remedy.made entirely from Juniper.
i. Rob of Juniper (4 oz.), Juniper Water (2 lbs.), mix, then add Spirit of Juniper (2 oz.). Mix. (Pharmacopoeia extemporanea, Augustin, 1822)
8. Essential Oil of Juniper Berries
“This oil is profitable against griping pains or wind in the guts, and may be compared to balm: 4 or 5 drops being drunk prevents the resolution of the Sinews, the Falling Sickness and other diseases of the Brain; it preserves the body from Poison and Pestilent Airs; it comforts a weak and cold Stomach and stays Vomiting; it purges the Reins, breaks Gravel and provokes Urine, and is profitable against the Dropsy, and water between the skin and the flesh; it Kills Worms; to conclude it comforts all weak members by his piercing vertue, it helps Convulsions and Shakings and pains in the neck coming of a Catar if ye annoint the parts therewith; it eases the pains of the Sciatica in the Hips, the Gout and the Colic, and all malign Ulcers being annointed therewith”. (A Brief Answer of Josephus Quercetanus Armeniacus, Doctor of Physick … By John Hester, London, 1591)
It is specific to promote urine in Edema, for Gravel and Stones, pain of the Penis, pains of the back, and Gout pain. It promotes Menstruation, opens the Liver, Spleen, Gall and Lungs, and cures Ulcers and schirrus Tumours in those places. Very good for diseases of the head including Vertigo, Migraine, Convulsions, Falling Sickness, Dead Palsy, and Numbness. It promotes Sweat, and Expels Poison and the Plague, and was “especially commended against Bad Air, the pestilence and all Epidemic diseases; nor is it less to be preserved against diseases of the Matrix [Uterus]”.
Dose: ½–3 drops in wine, syrup, sugar or honey
9. Essential Oil of Juniper Wood
“This oil is profitable for members that are weakened through Cold, it strengthens the Reins and Matrix and helps Conception, it cures Malign Ulcers and Wounds, and assuages Pain; it takes away the Fit of a Quartan Fever, especially being annointed from the Navel downward”. (A Brief Answer of Josephus Quercetanus Armeniacus, Doctor of Physick … By John Hester, London, 1591)
A Specific against all diseases of the Brain and Nerves; also used for Palsy, Epilepsy and Convulsions; used for all the purposes for which the Oils of Sandalwood and Aloes Wood are used. (Salmon)

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-A Decoction of Juniper Berries was said to give the gift of prophecy. Juniper smoke induces trances, and was inhaled prior to exorcisms, rituals and healings.
-It was a belief among natural philosophers, that the Eagle lives to such an old age because it eats Juniper Berries.
-Juniper has always been sacred to the Christians because the baby Jesus was hid under a Juniper bush when fleeing to Egypt from the assassins of Herod.
-“Juniper Berries as they are produced from a Plant able to endure the Greatest injuries of the hardest Winter, and which takes a longer space of time than ordinary in bringing its Berries to maturation, viz. about 2 years before they are fit to be gathered … so it seems that in this elaborated Fruit there is perfected a most admirable and salutiferous Balsam and Spirit: The longer Nature is in perfecting or completing anything, the most elaborate and excellent will its Productions be at last”. (Salmon)
-An Incense: Dried, stir-fried and powdered Juniper Wood 2 oz., Benzoin 1 oz., Storax 1 oz., 6 drops each of oil of Lemons and oil of Cloves, 10 grains of Musk, 6 grains of Civet; mix and with a little Gum Tragacanth steeped in Rosewater, form little Cakes, and dry them between Rose Leaves. (The Queen-like Closet, Hannah Wolley, 1672)
-On the use of Juniper and Elder berries: “The simple decoction of these berries, sweetened with a little sugar candy, will afford liquors so pleasant to the eye, so grateful to the palate, and so beneficial to the body, that the wonder is they have not been courted and ushered into our Publick Houses, so great are the extraordinary beauty and vertues of these berries”. (London, 1682)
-The strong scent of Juniper is said to defeat the scent of the Hound.

Pliny on Juniper:
‘The juniper is of a warming and resolvent nature beyond all other plants : in other respects, it resembles the cedar. There are two species of this tree, also, one of which is larger than the other: the odour of either, burnt, repels the approach of serpents. The seed is good for pains in the stomach, chest, and sides; it dispels flatulency and sudden chills, soothes cough, and brings indurations to a head. Applied topically, it checks the growth of tumours; and the berries, taken in red wine, act astringently upon the bowels: they are applied also to tumours of the abdomen. The seed is used as an ingredient in antidotes of an aperient nature, and is diuretic in its effects. It is used as a liniment for defluxions of the eyes, and is prescribed for convulsions, ruptures, griping pains in the bowels, affections of the uterus, and sciatica, either in a dose of four berries in white wine, or in the form, of a decoction of twenty berries in wine. There are persons who rub the body with juniper berries as a preventive of the attacks of serpents.’ (The Natural History of Pliny, trans. by Bostock and Riley, Vol. 5, 1856)

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