Juniper
This article is about Juniper plants. For the computer network company, see Juniper Networks
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About 50-55 species, including:
Juniperus angosturana
Juniperus ashei
Juniperus barbadensis
Juniperus bermudiana
Juniperus blancoi
Juniperus brevifolia
Juniperus californica
Juniperus cedrus
Juniperus chinensis
Juniperus coahuilensis
Juniperus comitana
Juniperus communis
Juniperus conferta
Juniperus convallium
Juniperus deppeana
Juniperus drupacea
Juniperus durangensis
Juniperus excelsa
Juniperus flaccida
Juniperus foetidissima
Juniperus formosana
Juniperus gamboana
Juniperus gaussenii
Juniperus horizontalis
Juniperus indica
Juniperus jaliscana
Juniperus komarovii
Juniperus luchuensis
Juniperus macrocarpa
Juniperus monosperma
Juniperus monticola
Juniperus occidentalis
Juniperus osteosperma
Juniperus oxycedrus
Juniperus phoenicea
Juniperus pinchotii
Juniperus procera
Juniperus procumbens
Juniperus pseudosabina
Juniperus recurva
Juniperus rigida
Juniperus sabina
Juniperus saltillensis
Juniperus saltuaria
Juniperus scopulorum
Juniperus semiglobosa
Juniperus squamata
Juniperus standleyi
Juniperus thurifera
Juniperus tibetica
Juniperus virginiana
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Junipers are coniferous plants in the genus Juniperus of the cypress family Cupressaceae. There are about 50-55 species of juniper, widely distributed throughout the northern hemisphere to tropical Africa. They vary in size and shape from tall columnar forms to low cones or spreading platter-like shrubs with long trailing branches. Junipers are evergreen trees or shrubs with either needle-like or scale-like leaves. They can be either monoecious or dioecious; the female cones have fleshy, coalescing scales (see below), and unwinged, hard seeds. Some are sometimes misleadingly called cedars, the common name for species in the genus Cedrus, family Pinaceae. A number of species (such as Chinese Juniper J. chinensis from East Asia) are used in landscaping and horticulture.
Junipers have distinctive cones which are fruit-like in character: small cones in which the scales fuse together to form a fleshy "berry-like" structure. In some species these "berries" are red-brown or orange but in most they are blue; they are often aromatic. Many junipers have two types of leaves: seedlings and the young twigs of older trees, and all the foliage of a few species (e.g. J. communis), have needle-like leaves; while the leaves on mature plants of the other species are tiny, overlapping and scale-like.
The junipers are divided into several sections, though (particularly among the scale-leaved species) which species belong to which sections is still far from clear, with research still on-going. The needle-leaved species are an obvious monophyletic group though.
- Juniperus sect. Juniperus: Needle-leaf junipers. The adult leaves are needle-like, in whorls of three, and jointed at the base.
- Juniperus sect. Juniperus subsect. Juniperus: Cones with 3 separate seeds; needles with one stomatal band
- Juniperus communis - Common Juniper
- Juniperus conferta - Shore Juniper
- Juniperus rigida - cypresses, in opposite pairs or whorls of three, and not jointed at the base (even in the few that have needle-like leaves).
- Provisionally, all the other junipers are included here, though they form a paraphyletic group.
- Juniperus angosturana - Mexican One-seed Juniper
- Juniperus ashei - Ashe Juniper
- Juniperus barbadensis - West Indies Juniper
- Juniperus bermudiana - Bermuda Juniper
- Juniperus blancoi - Blanco's Juniper
- Juniperus californica - California Juniper
- Juniperus chinensis - Chinese Juniper
- Juniperus chinensis var. sargentii - Sargent's Juniper
- Juniperus coahuilensis - Coahuila Juniper
- Juniperus comitana - Comitán Juniper
- Juniperus convallium - Mekong Juniper
- Juniperus deppeana - Alligator Juniper
- Juniperus durangensis - Durango Juniper
- Juniperus excelsa - Greek Juniper
- Juniperus excelsa subsp. polycarpos - Persian Juniper
- Juniperus flaccida - Mexican Weeping Juniper
- Juniperus foetidissima - Stinking Juniper
- Juniperus gamboana - Gamboa Juniper
- Juniperus gaussenii - Gaussen's Juniper
- Juniperus horizontalis - Creeping Juniper
- Juniperus indica - Black Juniper
- Juniperus jaliscana - Jalisco Juniper
- Juniperus komarovii - Komarov's Juniper
- Juniperus monosperma - One-seed Juniper
- Juniperus monticola - Mountain Juniper
- Juniperus occidentalis - Western Juniper
- Juniperus occidentalis subsp. australis - Sierra Juniper
- Juniperus osteosperma - Utah Juniper
- Juniperus phoenicea - Phoenicean Juniper
- Juniperus pinchotii - Pinchot Juniper
- Juniperus procera - East African Juniper
- Juniperus procumbens - Ibuki Juniper
- Juniperus pseudosabina - Xinjiang Juniper
- Juniperus recurva - Himalayan Juniper
- Juniperus recurva var. coxii - Cox's Juniper
- Juniperus sabina - Savin Juniper
- Juniperus sabina var. davurica - Daurian Juniper
- Juniperus saltillensis - Saltillo Juniper
- Juniperus saltuaria - Sichuan Juniper
- Juniperus scopulorum - Rocky Mountain Juniper
- Juniperus semiglobosa - Russian Juniper
- Juniperus squamata - Flaky Juniper
- Juniperus standleyi - Standley's Juniper
- Juniperus thurifera - Spanish Juniper
- Juniperus tibetica - Tibetan Juniper
- Juniperus virginiana - Eastern Juniper
Additional notes
The Rocky Mountain Juniper (J. scopulorum), One-seed Juniper (J. monosperma), Western Juniper (J. occidentalis), Utah Juniper (J. osteosperma) and California Juniper (J. californica) occur in the western United States. In the southwest United States there are four more species, including the Alligator Juniper (J. deppeana) with its thick bark checkered into scaly squares. Many of the earliest prehistoric people lived in or near the pinyon pine and juniper forests which furnished them food, fuel, and wood for shelter or utensils.
Some junipers are susceptible to Gymnosporangium rust disease, and can be a serious problem for those growing Apples, the alternate host of the disease.
