Juniper (Juniperus communis)

  • Krzewy Bushes
  • Iglaste Coniferous

Cypress family (Cupressaceae)

 

Evergreen, slow-growing, variable shrub or small tree reaching heights of 14(20) m, and breast-height diameters of 60(78) cm. Lives over 200 years. Bark flakes off in strips. Needles three to a whorl, short, stiff and grey green with 2 white bands above. Usually dioecious. Flowers of two genders separate, wind-pollinated. Seeds in black, fleshy and aromatic cone-berries with a blue integument that have commercial use. Berries spread by animals and the wind. Flowers May-Jun.

Grows in different habitats, though especially nutrient-poor ones. Light-loving pioneer species most often encountered in dry or mesic pine forest. A medicinal plant.

 

Descriptions devised by the team at the Independent Department of Forest Botany, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, i.e. L. Witkowska-Żuk, K. Marciszewska, W. Ciurzycki, A. Obidziński and P. Zaniewski