The Juniper bark is dark reddish brown, and it flakes off in small pieces in the same way as the Yew tree bark. The branches are small and thin, and they clothe the trunk close to the very ground; it would be difficult to sit comfortably under a Juniper tree in this country. Like the Yew, it is a very slow-growing tree. Juniper leaves (2) are not in the least like ordinary leaves: they are more like thorns than leaves, and they are not easy to gather. But if you examine a spray carefully you will find that each leaf is like a narrow flat spear with a sharp point at the end. Each leaf has a slight groove cut from end to end in the upper side, which is dark green, very smooth and glossy. Notice how curiously the leaves are grouped on the spray. They are placed in incomplete circles of three, and there is always a short space between each of the circles. Juniper flowers are of two kinds, and they usually grow on separate trees, though sometimes you may find both kinds on separate branches of the same tree. The stamen flowers (3) are in full bloom in May, and you will find them growing in small scaly catkins close to the foot of the leaf where it joins the stem. The heads of the stamens stand like a row of small yellow beads along the edge of each scale, and when they are ripe the beads burst and the leaves around are covered with their fine yellow powder. The seed flowers (4) also grow at the foot of the leaves, and at first you might mistake them for young buds. They have thicker and more fleshy scales than those of the stamen catkins, and after the yellow stamen dust is blown by the wind on to their seed-vessels the upper scales grow into a green berry (5). These green berries remain in the tree all through the winter, and the following summer they change into a deep purplish black. Each berry has a soft grey bloom all over it, like the bloom on a grape. These berries are very bitter to taste, but are not poisonous; in some illnesses country people use them successfully as a medicine. Many are the uses of the Juniper, and in olden days it was highly valued. [Illustration: PLATE XX THE LARCH 1. Larch Tree 2. Leaf Tufts 3. Stamen Catkins 4. Seed Catkins 5. Young Cone 6. Ripe Cone] In Sweden the berries are eaten to breakfast; sometimes they are roasted and ground into coffee. The wood and its berries may be burnt in sick-rooms to purify the air and refresh the patient. Country people believed that burning sprays of Juniper kept away witches, and the smoke was supposed to drive away serpents, as well as to destroy any germs of plague or other infectious disease. In Scotland the smoke from a Juniper fire is used for curing hams. In Lapland the peasants make ropes from the Juniper bark, and they tell you that if a bit of Juniper wood is lighted and then carefully covered with ashes it will keep alight for a whole year.