Juniperus communis

Common juniper is in the cypress or Cupressaceae family. It has the largest geographical range of any woody plant, with a circumpolar distribution throughout the cool temperate Northern Hemisphere from the Arctic south in mountains to around 30°N latitude in North America, Europe and Asia. It is a small coniferous tree or erect shrub.

• Leaves are linear-lanciolate (sword-like), in whorls of 3, up to 1.2 cm long, green, sessile (no petiole), never attaining adult foliage.
• Species is dioecious, with male and female cones on separate plants. Male cones are yellow, 2–3 mm long, solitary, falling soon after shedding their pollen in early spring. Female cones are small, round, solitary, 2 seasons of cones on the plant (year 1 and year 2).
• Fruit is a berry-like cone, round, 4–12 mm in diameter, initially green, ripening in 18 months to purple-black with a blue waxy coating, and usually with three (occasionally six) fleshy fused scales, each scale with a single seed.
• Twig is slender, smooth, triangular between nodes; bark is thin, shreddy, red-gray-brown.
• Thanks to Susan J. Meades for providing us with many excellent pictures of many species.