Juniperus 1403 



high after being planted twelve years.^ It has not been recognised by us 

 as now in cultivation. 



6. Var. variegata aurea, Carriere, Conif. 19 (1867). 



Young shoots golden yellow, becoming green in the following year. 



7. Var. cracovia, Knight, Syn. Conif. 11 (1850). 

 Juniperus cracovia, Loddiges, ex Loudon, op. cit. 2490 (1838). 



This,^ which was said to have been introduced from Poland, was described as a 

 robust plant, with pendulous terminal branchlets. It appears to be very rare in 

 England, the only specimen which we have seen being a tree at Bicton, about 25 ft. 

 high, which has been much broken by the wind. 



Distribution 



The common juniper is more widely distributed than any other tree or shrub in 

 the northern hemisphere. In Europe it is common throughout the northern and 

 central part of the continent, and occurs in the mountains of the countries bordering 

 on the Mediterranean ; while the alpine form is reported* to exist on the Djurdjura 

 range in Algeria. Eastwards J. communis spreads through Siberia to Kamtschatka 

 and the Kurile Isles, and through Turkestan to the Thianshan range in Mongolia ; 

 but it is not found in Japan,* where it is represented byy. rigida. It is also met 

 with in Asia Minor, the Caucasus, Persia, Afghanistan, and the western Himalayas, 

 as far east as Garhwal and Kumaon. In North America it extends from far north 

 in Alaska and in Canada, southwards on' the east to New Jersey, Pennsylvania, 

 Michigan, and western Nebraska ; in the Rocky Mountains, to New Mexico ; and 

 on the Pacific coast, to northern California ; and, according to Sargent, only becomes 

 a tree on the limestone hills of Illinois. 



Kirchner and Schroter attempt to distinguish with great accuracy the limits of 

 distribution of the common juniper and its var. nana ; but the altitudes given show 

 that the records of the two forms are much confused. In a general way, it may be 

 stated that var. nana extends farther to the north in the plains of the holarctic 

 region, and ascends higher in the mountains to the southward. It is said to occur at 

 the following altitudes : in the Sierra Nevada, between 5400 and 9700 ft. ; in the 

 Alps, usually between 6000 and 8000 ft., attaining its highest point on Mt. Rosa 

 at 11,900 feet; in the Caucasus, between 7600 and 9400 feet; in the western 

 Himalayas, between 4300 and 12,000 feet. 



J. communis, while widely distributed throughout Russia, is totally absent from 

 the south, in the provinces where the " black earth " formation prevails ; and is most 

 common in the Baltic provinces, where in Courland, north-west Livland, Esthonia, 

 and the islands of Oesel and Dago, it covers large tracts of peaty sand. Kerner ^ 



1 Gordon, in Gard. Chron. 1842, p. 652, says that this variety is a robust spreading plant, 2 ft. or 3 ft. high, with 

 leaves like the common juniper, but long and slender ; fruit dark purple when ripe, and very small. 



* Gordon, in Gard. Chron. 1842, p. 6J2, says that this variety is not different hotaj. communis. 



8 Chabert, in Bull. Soc. Bot. France, xxxvi. 30 (1889), who also states that the common form, 6 to 8 ft. in height, occurs, 

 but is very rare, in Kabylia. 



♦ Kawakami, in Tokyo Bot. Mag. 1900, p. iii, records it, however, for Rishiri Island, on the west coast of Vezo. 

 ' Pflanzenleben der Donauland (ii6'i). 



