THE JUNIPERS 275 



the stages by which the cone-scales thicken and coalesce, 

 instead of hardening and remaining separate, as in the 

 typical fruit of conifers. 



Juniper leaves are of two types: scale-like in opposite 

 pairs, pressed close to the tw^g, as in the cypresses; and 

 stiff, spiny, usually channelled leaves, which stand out free 

 from the twig in whorls of threes. 



The wood is red, fragrant, durable, and light. 



The Dwarf Juniper 



Juniperus communis, Linn. 



The dwarf juniper departs from the pyramidal pattern 

 and forms a loose, open head above a short, stout trunk. 

 The slender branchlets are clothed with boat-shaped 

 leaves which spread nearly at right angles from the twigs in 

 whorls of three. Each one is pointed and hollowed, dark 

 green outside, snowy white inside, which is really the upper 

 side of the leaf. It requires three years to mature the 

 bright blue berries, and they hang on the tree two or three 

 years longer. Each fruit contains two or three seeds, and 

 these require three years to germinate. 



It is plain to see that time is no object to this slow-grow- 

 ing dwarf juniper, found in both the Eastern and Western 

 Hemispheres, covering vast stretches of waste land. From 

 Greenland to Alaska it is found and south along the high- 

 lands into Pennsylvania, New Mexico, and California. Its 

 hardiness gives it importance as a cover for waste land on 

 seashores and for hedges and windbreaks in any exposed 

 situation. It is a tree reaching thirty feet in height on the 

 limestone hills of southern Illinois. In other situations it 

 is usually a sprawling shrubby thing, the cringing parent 



