Juniper

Junipers is the name for a number of species of coniferous plants in the genus Juniperus. They are related to the family Cupressaceae (the cypress). There are between 50 and 67 species of juniper. Junipers grow in the northern hemisphere.

Juniperus
Juniperus osteosperma in Nevada
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Pinophyta
Class:	Pinopsida
Order:	Pinales
Family:	Cupressaceae
Genus:	Juniperus L.

Junipers are evergreen. They vary in size from low shrubs to tall trees, which grow to between twenty and forty metres tall.

Juniper berries

The female trees have seed cones. These look like a berry, and are called juniper berries. They take from six to eighteen months to grow after pollination. They are often aromatic, and can be used as a spice.

Unfortunately, the berries of some species, such as Juniperus sabina, are toxic. Eating them is not advised. Juniper has a number of species, and you have to know what you are doing before you eat the berries.

Juniper Media

• Detail of Juniperus chinensis shoots, with juvenile (needle-like) leaves (left), adult scale leaves, and immature male cones (right)

• Juniper needles, magnified. Left, J. communis (Juniperus sect. Juniperus, needles 'jointed' at base). Right, J. chinensis (Juniperus sect. Sabina, needles merging smoothly with the stem, not jointed at base)

• Juniperseeds.jpg

  Self made scan of the cones and seeds of a Juniper taken March 2008.

• SabinaChinensis.jpg

  Avenue of Juniperus chinensis

• El Hierro Sabinar.JPG

  Juniperus phoenicea on El Hierro, Canary Islands

• JuniperRockCreek.JPG

  Juniperus grandis in the eastern Sierra Nevada, Rock Creek Canyon, California

• Juniper berries q.jpg

  Juniperus virginiana in October laden with ripe cones

• Juniperus × pfitzeriana 'Gold Coast'

• Juniper wood pieces and 1 cent coin.jpg

  Juniperus communis wood pieces, with a U.S. penny for scale, showing the narrow growth rings of the species

References

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