Juniperus chinensis

Common Name: Chinese Juniper

Family: Cupressaceae

Country of Origin: Russian Far East to N. Myanmar and Temp. E. Asia

Description: Dioecious (rarely monoecious) evergreen creeping shrub, shrub or tree to 25 m tall, 60 cm dbh. Bark grey-brown to red-brown, longitudinally fissured, peeling off in thin flakes. Branches ascending; branchlets straight or slightly curved, red-green, glabrous, terete or 4-angled, 1-1.2 mm in diameter. Both acicular and scale-like leaves may be present, the acicular leaves predominating on juvenile plants and lower branches of older plants. The acicular leaves are decussate or in whorls of 3, loosely arranged, ascending, nearly lanceolate, (3-)6-12 mm long, 0.8-1.5 mm wide, compressed, apex pointed and soft or spiny, gradually narrowing toward base, with 2 white stomatal bands on upper surface, light to dark green, slightly ridged on lower surface. Scale leaves are decussate opposite, closely appressed, rhomboid-ovate, obtuse, ca. 1.5 mm long, 1 mm wide, dark green, with an oblong gland in middle of dorsal surface. Flowers are solitary, terminal on previous year's scale leaved shoots, appearing in February to April. Pollen cones are yellow, oblong-ellipsoid, 4-6 mm long and 2-3 mm wide, with 14-18 microsporophylls. Seed cones are on short stalks, globose, purple-black to purple-brown, 4-10 mm diameter, with (1-)3(-4) seeds. Seeds ovoid, blunt, keeled, triangular in cross section, brown, 3-6 mm long and 2-5 mm wide, with resin pits. Chromosome number: 2n = 22, 33, 44.⁵

USDA Zone: 4

Accession #: 201800126

Accession Date: 2019-10-25 00:00:00

Bloom Status: 🪴 Not Flowering

Location: 2301

Quantity: 3

Source: John Korte (seed from treeseeds.com)

Division: Pinophyta

Class: Pinopsida

Subclass: Pinidae

Order: Cupressales

Family: Cupressaceae

SubFamily: Cupressoideae