244 TREES IN WINTER 



COMMON JUNIPER 



Dwarf Juniper. 



Juniperus communis L. 



HABIT — A shrub or small tree 5-15 ft. high; in the type form with 

 generallj' 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 \_Juniperv,s 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 n-ear 

 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. 



piSTRlRlTTIOX — Tn 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 tvpp is reported as less common and as occurring in 

 Massachusetts and southward; Connecticut — the type is listed as rare 

 and is reported only from Norwich. It is not uncommon, however, 

 about Storrs. The variety depressa is frequent throughout the state. 



W'OOU — Hard, close-grained, very durable in contact with soil, light 

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

 used in giving its peculiar flavor to Holland gin. 



