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Encyclopedic overview
Juniper berries are actually modified conifer cones.
A juniper berry is the female seed cone produced by the various species of junipers. It is not a true berry but a cone with unusually fleshy and merged scales called a galbulus, which gives it a berry-like appearance. The cones from a handful of species, especially Juniperus communis, are used as a spice, particularly in European cuisine, and also give gin its distinctive flavour. Juniper berries are among the few spices derived from conifers, along with spruce buds.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “juniper berry” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.