86 CONIFERS AND TAXADS OF JAPAN 



sea-level near Mororan in Iburi province and elsewhere. In Saghalien it appears 

 to be rare, but on the island of Shikotan, one of the most southern of the Kurile 

 group, Takeda says it is "common on hillsides; replacing Pinus pumila, which is 

 unknown on this island." From continental Asia there is no record of this Juniper, 

 but it is possible that it may be the J. davurica Pallas (Fl. Ross. I. pt. 2, 13, t. 

 55 [1788]). 



In habit this plant is perfectly prostrate and the long spreading stems hug the 

 ground, but when crowded among rocks or bushes the stems are forced upward 

 and form a low hummock-like mass. Normally, however, this plant makes 

 broad mats. The lateral branches are short and point upward and forward. On 

 the fruiting plants the leaves are all, or nearly all, scale-like and imbricated, but 

 on young plants the leaves are all lanceolate, concave and ascending-spreading. 

 According to the age of the plants all intermediate stages can be found. In color 

 the foliage varies from grass-green in young plants to bluish green in adults. 

 The fruit in size and shape is identical with that of the type species and on material 

 before me contains from one to four seeds. 



This plant was introduced to this Arboretum by Professor Sargent, who col- 

 lected seeds near Mororan, Hokkaido, in 1892. It has proved perfectly hardy, 

 grows freely and its stems and branchlets overlap one another in such a manner as 

 to form neat, low, wide-spreading masses of green. As a ground cover this Juniper 

 is among the most valuable of all the known kinds. Henry appears to have been 

 the first to recognize the difference of this Juniper from the other forms of J. 

 chinensis. Some Japanese botanists have confused it with the very different J. 

 procumbens Sieb. (syn. J. chinensis, var. procumbens Endl.). On a specimen col- 

 lected on Shirane-san in the Nikko region by K. Sakurai the vernacular name of 

 Sargent's Juniper is given as Ibuki. 



