Juniper Cossack
Cossack juniper is part of the plant family called cypressaceae; in Latin the name of this plant will be as follows: Juniperus sabina L.
As for the name of the Cossack juniper family itself, in Latin it will be like this: Cupressaceae.
Description of Cossack juniper
Cossack juniper is known by the following popular names: bloodgon, Cossack juniper and Don juniper. Cossack juniper is a low-growing, dioecious, creeping shrub endowed with bark that is colored reddish-gray. The young branches of this plant are quite thin and rounded, they are colored in dark green tones. The leaves of the Cossack juniper will be flat, scaly and pressed, and they are also endowed with a rather unpleasant odor. The seed cones of this plant will be small in size, they are berry-shaped, round-oval in shape, and colored brown-black with a bluish tinge.
Under natural conditions, Cossack juniper is found in the North Caucasus, Southern Urals, Don, Crimea, the mountains of Central Asia, Transcarpathia, as well as in the Sayan Mountains in Eastern Siberia and in the steppe zone of Western Siberia. For growth, this plant prefers places in the mountains on rocky slopes and rocks, dry places, as well as steppes on chalk and sandy soil. It should be noted that this plant is also poisonous. For this reason, it is very important to exercise strict caution when handling Cossack juniper, and constant medical supervision will also be required.
Description of the medicinal properties of Cossack juniper
Cossack juniper is endowed with very valuable healing properties, and for medicinal purposes it is recommended to use young annual branches with leaves. It is recommended to dry such raw materials in the shade outdoors or in rooms that provide good ventilation. Raw materials should be stored in tightly closed metal and glass jars.
The presence of such valuable healing properties should be explained by the content of essential oil, resin, wax, flavonoids, pinipicrin glycoside, tannins and ascorbic acid in this plant. It should be noted that the main component of Cossack juniper essential oil will be alcohol – sabinol.
It is noteworthy that the use of this plant is quite limited. An aqueous infusion based on this plant is recommended for use in small doses for paralysis, hysterical seizures, intermittent fever, chronic polyarthritis and against worms. As for external use, a powder based on crushed leaves of this plant is recommended to be rubbed into the scalp in case of baldness, and locally this product is used for faster healing of ulcers and purulent wounds.
Fresh crushed leaves of the Cossack juniper, which have been previously mixed and ground with lard or butter, are indicated for use against scabies, scab, various lichens and for removing warts.
It is important to remember that the internal use of medicinal products based on this plant requires strict caution and constant medical supervision. This circumstance should be associated with the fact that Cossack juniper is a very poisonous plant. However, it is also important to remember that the chemical composition of this plant has not yet been fully studied, for this reason, in the near future, new ways of using very effective healing agents based on Cossack juniper may appear.
