Juniperus communis
Common juniper
How do you recognise common juniper?
An evergreen shrub or tree growing 0.2–10 metres tall depending on where it stands. The needle-like leaves are stalkless, stiff, broad at the base and sharply pointed, and sit in whorls of three. The berry-like cone is round and 5–8 mm across, green when unripe and dark when mature.
What is it confused with?
Pine and spruce needles grow in pairs or singly, never in whorls of three. Juniper is also usually a shrub rather than a single-trunked tree.
Where does common juniper grow, and when does it flower?
Juniper favours poor to moderately fertile dry or mesic forest, and also grows on rocks, pasture, and clearings. It flowers in May and June.
Can you collect it for a herbarium?
Juniper is common, and a short twig tip with needles is enough. Careful. Do not taste this plant.
Did you know?
The berry-like cones take until their third summer to ripen, so one bush carries green and dark cones at the same time. Juniper is dioecious, with male and female flowers on separate plants.
Where does common juniper grow in Finland?
The map shows where the species has been recorded. Darker squares mean more observations.
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Observations: GBIF · Map: CARTO, OpenStreetMap
Sources: fi.wikipedia.org
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Linnea identifies a plant from a photo and tells you its name and its story. Every find takes its own numbered place in your herbarium, with the day and the town where you found it.
