II. — THE COMMON JUNIPER. 
Juniper us communis L i n ne . 
T HE Family Cupressine <e are distinguished from the Abietine<e , of which Pin us is 
an example, by having their leaves and the scales of their cones arranged in 
whorls, instead of being borne singly in spirals, and by having their ovules erect, 
instead of inverted. Many of them, including some species of Juniperus, have minute 
green scale-like leaves closely pressed to the stem, so that this type of leaf is termed 
cupresso'ul ; but that is not the case with the Common Juniper. 
In the number of its species the genus Juniperus, the only genus in a Tribe 
known as Juniperin.e, is second only, among the Coniferoe of the Northern Hemis- 
phere, to Pinus , comprising as it does some thirty different kinds. Though some of 
these are merely shrubs, others reach the dimensions of good-sized trees. The 
fragrant reddish wood of Juniperus virginiana L. and J. bermudiana L. is that 
employed, under the name of “ cedar,” for making lead-pencils. 
The needle-shaped leaves of Junipers are sometimes in opposite pairs, but more 
commonly in whorls of three, so that the three leaves in each whorl diverge at an 
angle of 120 0 . These whorls “decussate,” i.e. the leaves in any one whorl stand 
over the spaces between the leaves of the next whorl below. There are thus six 
vertical rows of leaves along the stem. A yet more distinctive character of the genus 
Juniperus is the fleshy, roundish, berry-like cone, in which the seeds are so embedded 
that it is somewhat difficult to recognise that the plant is a gymnosperm. 
The Common Juniper ( Juniperus communis L.) may reach twenty or even thirty 
feet in height ; but is more commonly a small shrub from three to seven feet high, 
and in alpine and Arctic situations becomes a prostrate undershrub. It is of slow, or 
very slow, growth, and the main stem is generally overtopped by its branches at an 
early stage. It is only in the taller tree forms that the stem reaches a foot in diameter ; 
but in much smaller specimens the stringy reddish-brown bark may be seen coming 
away in long strips from the deeply furrowed surface. The branches commonly take 
an erect, ascending or “ fastigiate ” direction ; and as they spring near the base of the 
stem the whole plant assumes the habit of a Cypress or of a Lombardy Poplar ; but 
on windy hill-sides it is often blown over or made to spread out more horizontally 
than vertically and thus assumes a great variety of forms. 
The internodes of the shoots are triangular, the leaves being borne on the angles ; 
and the leaves are straight, rigid, awl-shaped, with a long, stiff, sharp point, and 
from half an inch to an inch in length. The leaf-margins are slightly thickened or 
inrolled, thus making the upper surface of the leaf concave and this hollow is lined 
with white wax, so that the leaves appear green below and glaucous above. In the 
dwarf alpine and Arctic form the needles are shorter, blunter, curved, and pressed 
against the stem. Though the flower-buds form in autumn, the flowers do not 
open till April or May, and, except in rare cases, the male and female blossoms 
are on distinct plants. 
