Syrian juniper

Juniperus drupacea is the tallest species of juniper, forming a conical tree 10–25 metres (33–82 feet) tall, exceptionally up to 40 m (130 ft), and with a trunk up to 1–2 m (3+1⁄2–6+1⁄2 ft) thick. It has needle-like leaves in whorls of three; the leaves are green, 5–25 millimetres (1⁄4–1 in) long and 2–3 mm broad, with a double white stomatal band (split by a green midrib) on the inner surface. It is usually dioecious, with separate male and female plants. The seed cones are the largest of any juniper, berry-like but hard and dry, green ripening in about 25 months to dark purple-brown with a pale blue waxy coating; they are ovoid to spherical, 20–27 mm (3⁄4–1 in) long and 20–25 mm diameter, and have six or nine fused scales in 2–3 whorls, each scale with a slightly raised apex. The three apical scales each bear a single seed, but with the three seeds fused together into a single nut-like shell. The male cones are produced in clusters (unlike any other juniper) of 5–20 cones together, yellow, 3–4 mm long, and fall soon after shedding their pollen in early spring.

In Southeastern Turkey, on mountainsides of Enekli Tepe, the fruit is boiled into an edible concentrate, to be preserved, and then consumed. This solution is called pekmez, and in addition to being nutritious, and promoting energy, is seen as an aphrodisiac. It is also used to treat asthma. Additional time-honoured medicinal uses for the tree in Turkey include treatment of haemorrhoids, stomach ailments, urinary infections, gout, wounds, diarrhoea, cough, and ordinary cold symptoms.