Juniper tree ("Juniperus phoenicea") is applied in dotted patterns on bisque drinking cups. Gitran makes the water more fragrant and is said to be good for the teeth. Some Indigenous peoples, such as the Dineh, have traditionally used juniper for diabetes. Native Americans have also used juniper berries as a female contraceptive. The 17th Century herbalist physician Nicholas Culpeper recommended the ripened berries for conditions such as asthma and sciatica, as well as to speed childbirth. The plant was long used as an arbortifacient and was known as 'bastard killer' in the UK. Juniper is one of the plants used in
Shrub-steppe the shrubsteppe in Washington State was referred to as "scabland" because of the deep channels cut into pure basalt rock by cataclysmic floods more than 10,000 years ago Channeled Scablands. Major threats to the ecosystem include overgrazing, fires, invasion by non-native species, development since much of it is at lower elevations and conversion to cropland, as well as energy development. Less than 50% of Washington State's historic shrubsteppe remains and according to some estimates it is only 12 to 15% . Shrub-steppe ecoregions of North America include: Shrub-steppe Shrub-steppe is a type of low rainfall natural grassland. While arid, shrub-steppes