378 NEW ENGLAND TREES IN WINTER. 



COMMON JUNIPER 



Dwarf Juniper. 

 Juniperus communis L. 



HABIT A shrub or small tree 5-ln ft. high; in the type form with 

 generally several erect stems, bearing erect branches densely clothed 

 with foliage, forming a narrow or rather broad compact plume-like 

 erect growth (habit picture at the right); in the more common dwarf 

 variety; [Juniperus communis, var. depressa Pursh; J. nana of Britton's 

 Manual in part; J. communis, var. canadensis Loud.; J. communis, var. 

 alpina Gray's Manual ed. 6 in part] with low-lying branches, frequently 

 rooting below, radiating from the center and curving upwards to form 

 low, broad, round mats resembling gigantic birds' nests 1 to 3 

 ft. high and often 10 to 20 ft. in diameter (habit picture at the left). 



BARK Grayish-brown, breaking on the surface into thin papery 

 shreddy longitudinal layers, which lift at the ends and edges exposing 

 the reddish bark below. 



TWIGS Smooth, light yellow, turning to red, prominently 3-angled 

 the first two years by decurrent ridges from below the leaves. Photo- 

 graph of twig is about % natural size. 



LEAVES All alike in whorls of 3, separated by short internodes, 

 spreading from the twigs at a broad angle, 7-20 mm. long, awl-shaped, 

 stiff and sharp-pointed, free from glandular dots, compressed, the 

 upper side concave and conspicuously streaked with a broad white line, 

 the dark green under side appearing uppermost by the bending over 

 of the twigs and leaves; persistent for several seasons. 



BUDS Distinct, scaly. 



FRUIT About the size of a pea, fleshy, berry-like, dark blue, covered 

 with a bloom, sweetish with a resinous flavor, remaining on the plant 

 during winter, but as the species is dioecious, to be found only on a 

 part of the plants. 



COMPARISONS The Common Juniper is distinguished from its near 

 relative the Red Cedar by its lower habit of growth, by the fact that 

 its leaves are all alike and without glandular dots; in distinction 

 from the typically appressed leaves of the Red Cedar, the leaves of 

 the Common Juniper are spreading at a wide angle. They thus resemble 

 the juvenile type of leaves found on young specimens of the Red 

 Cedar and on rapid-growing twigs of older trees of the same species 

 but may be distinguished by being almost always in 3's, wider and 

 longer, more distinctly whitened above, with a greater separation 

 between the nodes and by the presence of distinct scaly buds. A number 

 of forms are described but not always recognized. The dwarf variety 

 (var. depressa) is described as having leaves 8-13 mm. long, and the 

 type as having leaves 12-21 mm. long but they are best distinguished 

 by their different habits of growth as shown in the photographs. 



DISTRIBUTION In poor rocky soil, pastures and waste open places. 

 Widely distributed through the colder regions and mountains of the 

 northern part of the U. S., in a broad band extending westward from 

 Newfoundland on the north and New Jersey and Pennsylvania on the 

 south. The dwarf form (var. depressa) occurs throughout New Eng- 

 land. The type is reported as less common and as occurring in 

 Massachusetts and southward. 



IN CONNECTICUT The type ts listed as rare and is reported only 

 from Norwich. It is not uncommon, however, about Storrs. The variety 

 depressa is frequent throughout this state. 



WOOD Hard, close-grained, very durable in contact with soil, light 

 brown, with pale sapwood. Tn northern Europe the fruit is extensively 

 used in giving its peculiar flavor to Holland gin. 



