Habit: Shrub, tree; generally dioecious.
Stem: bark thin, peeling in strips; young shoots 4-angled to cylindric.
Leaf: opposite (4-ranked) or whorled in 3s (6-ranked), scale-like to less often awl- or needle-like.
Pollen Cone: generally terminal; pollen sacs 2--6 per scale.
Seed Cone: generally terminal, 5--18 mm, +- spheric, +- fleshy, berry-like, glaucous or not, dry or resinous, generally maturing 2nd year, surrounded at base by minute scale-like bracts; scales 3--8, fused, opposite or whorled in 3s.
Seed: 1--3 per cone, +- flat, unwinged, often not angled, generally animal-dispersed over 2 years; cotyledons 2--6.
Species In Genus: 67 species, 28 varieties: northern hemisphere except northeastern Africa.
Etymology: (Latin: juniper)
Jepson eFlora Author: Robert P. Adams & Jim A. Bartel
Reference: Adams & Nguyen 2007 Phytologia 89:43--57; Adams et al. 2006 Phytologia 88:299--309
Unabridged Reference: Adams 2004 Junipers of the World: The genus Juniperus. Trafford Publ., VancouverIndex of California Plant Names (ICPN; linked via the Jepson Online Interchange)Key to Juniperus
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