What are Juniper Trees? |
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What are Juniper Trees? |
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Scientific classification of Junipers: Kingdom: Plantae Notes Some junipers are susceptible to Gymnosporangium rust disease, and can be a serious problem for those growing Apples, the alternate host of the disease. 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 juniper forests which furnished them food, fuel, and wood for shelter or utensils. Many species, such as J. chinensis (Chinese Juniper) from eastern Asia, are extensively used in landscaping and horticulture, it is also a symbol of longevity. Juniper berries are used in the distillation of gin and Jenever and the brewing of sahti. Juniper was also occasionally used in gruit, a mix of herbs used for flavouring beer prior to the use of hops. Some junipers are sometimes misleadingly called cedars, correctly the vernacular name for species in the genus Cedrus, family Pinaceae.
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What
are Juniper Trees or Junipers?
Junipers
vary in form from trees up 40 metres tall, to columnar
or low spreading shrubs with prostrate trailing branches.
They are evergreen with needle-like or scale-like leaves.
They can be either monoecious or dioecious. The female
cones are fleshy, their fruit having coalescing scales
that fuse together to form a berry-like object containing
the seeds beneath the scales. In some species these "berries"
are red-brown or orange but in most they are blue when
ripe, green when unripe; they are often aromatic, and
are sometimes used as a spice. When the seed becomes ripe
varies between species from 6-18 months after pollination.
The male cones are similar to those of other Cupressaceae,
with 6-20 scales; most shed their pollen in early spring,
but some species pollinate in the autumn. 
Many
junipers (e.g. J. chinensis, J. virginiana)
have two types of leaves: seedlings and some twigs of
older trees have needle-like leaves 5-25 mm long; and
the leaves on mature plants are (mostly) tiny (2-4 mm
long), overlapping and scale-like. When juvenile foliage
occurs on mature plants, it is most often found on shaded
shoots, with adult foliage in full sunlight. Leaves on
fast-growing 'whip' shoots are often intermediate between
juvenile and adult.
Juniper
needles, magnified. Left, Juniperus communis
(Juniperus sect. Juniperus; note needles
'jointed' at base). Right, Juniperus chinensis
(Juniperus sect. Sabina; note needles
merging smoothly with the stem, not jointed at base).
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