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| Juniper | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific classification | ||||||||||||
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Juniperus ashei Juniperus californica Juniperus cedrus Juniperus chinensis Juniperus coahuilensis Juniperus communis Juniperus conferta Juniperus deppeana Juniperus drupacea Juniperus excelsa Juniperus flaccida Juniperus foetidissima Juniperus horizontalis Juniperus indica Juniperus monosperma Juniperus occidentalis Juniperus osteosperma Juniperus oxycedrus Juniperus phoenicea Juniperus pinchotii Juniperus procera Juniperus sabina Juniperus scopulorum Juniperus squamata Juniperus thurifera Juniperus virginiana and many more | ||||||||||||
| Ref.: Gymnosperm Database |
Junipers are coniferous plants in the Genus Juniperus of the Family Cupressaceae. There are about 55 species of junipers, 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 monoecious or dioecious trees or shrubs with either needle-like or scale-like leaves, female cones with fleshy, coalescing scales (see below), and unwinged, hard seeds. Some are sometimes misleadingly called cedars, the common name for species in the genus Cedrus. A number of species (such as 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 and often aromatic. Many junipers have two types of evergreen 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. Many junipers are susceptible to Gymnosporangium rust disease, and can be a serious problem for those growing Apples, the alternate host of the disease.
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2 Additional notes 3 External links |
In the southwest United States there are four species, including the Alligator juniper (Juniperus 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.
Classification
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.Additional notes
The Utah juniper (Juniperus osteosperma) and the Western juniper (Juniperus occidentalis) can be found in the western United States.External links