Crossword Genius

Can such berries take a month to get ripe? (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

juniper

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'can such berries' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I cannot see how they can define each other.

'a month to get ripe?' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'a' could be 'per' (eg 'one a day' means 'one per day') and 'per' is present in the answer.
'month' could be 'jun' (abbreviation for June) and 'jun' is present in the answer.
A single letter 'i' remains which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

'take' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for juniper that I've seen before include "kind of berries" , "Shrub providing flavour for gin" , "Evergreen shrub or small tree with berry-like cones" , "Shrub flavouring gin" , "Plant producing berries used to flavour gin" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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