Juniper bushes at threat of disappearing from English countryside

Gin and panic: Juniper bushes at threat of disappearing from English countryside. Its berries have given gin its distinctive flavour for more than 350 years.

But soon the juniper bush could vanish for good from huge swathes of England's countryside, according to plant experts.

The charity Plantlife today warned that the evergreens were in "serious trouble" in Britain - and that some southern counties have lost 70 per cent of their populations.

Junipers have been part of Britain's landscape for thousands of years, and were one of the first trees to colonise Britain after the last Ice Age.

Their aromatic berries are used in cooking and medicine, and are the key ingredient of gin.

But the slow growing shrubs have been badly hit changes in farming since the 1960s, and the spread of rabbits and wild deer.

A favourite tipple of ladies who lunch, gin and tonics may one day be imported as English juniper bushes are under threat

Tim Wilkins, Plantlife's species recovery coordinator, said: 'Juniper is going down the pan in lowland England. Without action now, juniper faces extinction across much of lowland England within 50 years.

'The loss of juniper would represent more than the loss of a single species - it supports more than 40 species of insect and fungus that cannot survive without it.'

Juniper is a member of the conifer family and grows best on limestone and chalky soils.

The plant's seedlings need bare soil to become established - and are easily crowded out by other plants.

Plantlife says it has suffered from changes in land management since the Second World War and been hit by uncontrolled grazing of livestock, deer and rabbits.

Juniper bushes have been affected by uncontrolled grazing of livestock, deer and rabbits

The plant has also dwindled because of insect damage - and the spread of juniper berry mite.

Unlike most trees, junipers are either male or females. If trees grow in isolation, there will be no new seedlings.

The charity is calling on members of the public to look out for juniper shrubs and report their whereabouts. It is also testing out new techniques that could protect it from extinction across southern England.

In one experiment, volunteers will scrape away vegetation to expose bare soil and then plant juniper seeds. In another trial, they will place wire meshes underneath plants to stop voles and small rodents destroying the plants.

'We need more information about what is happening to junipers today,' said Mr Wilkins.

'It is the thin end of the wedge and its supports a large number of insects and fungi who will go if the juniper goes.

'Other plants need the same sort of habitats, so by protecting the juniper will also protect other species.'

Junipers rarely grow higher than 40 feet. They live for 200 years and have distinctive blue-green prickly needles with a white stripe. ( dailymail.co.uk )