Junipers & Allies
What are they?
Other than all being conifers, these plants are not necessarily species that are closely related. Rather, they are species that have leaves that differ from those of other conifers in being rather needle-like overall (ie rather sharply pointed), but broadening out at the base and often overlapping each other closer to the stem. Most of the species in this group will be junipers - a group that also has species with blunt, scale-like leaves that resemble those of the cypresses - and some junipers have both types of foliage on a single plant. Junipers further differ from most other conifers in having a fruit like a berry, rather than a dry cone.
This group also covers the Japanese Red-cedar, a tree that has a number of ornamental varieties with leaves that can differ markedly from the parent species. As with the junipers, this is because they have foliage that differs in young plants (so-called 'juvenile' leaves) from those seen at maturity ('adult' leaves) and horticulturalists have propogated from 'juvenile' forms to produce varieties that never attain the adult-type foliage.
Where are they found?
There are no species in this group that are native to East Anglia, so any plants found will have been planted or perhaps self-seeded. Thus, they are likely to be found in managed sites such as parks and roadsides, or in forestry woodland.
Identification
There are few species in this group so generally they should be readily identified by their foliage throughout the year - fruits or cones also help when present. However, you should be aware of the complications caused by the Chinese/Pfitzer Juniper group, as detailed under those species below. If you have a juniper-like plant with tightly overlapping, scale-like leaves that you don't see here, it is worth checking the cypress page, too.
Common Juniper Juniperus communis
Native elsewhere in the UK but only known from planted individuals in East Anglia. Rare, but often long-lived at a handful of sites. A variable species but usually distinctive in its very sharply pointed, 'juvenile' needles, carried in whorls of three and with a single, broad, whitish stripe taking up most of the upper side. Berries start green and ripen bluish with a light grey bloom. Natural growth produces a bushy plant to around three metres in height, but cultivated forms can be very tightly upright, while some forms cultivated from mountain populations can be prostrate and carpet the ground. This species never acquires 'adult', scale-like leaves.
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Pfitzer Juniper Juniperus x pfitzeriana
Introduced from eastern Asia and represented by a wide variety of forms that were selected and propagated in cultivation. Though not officially recorded from East Anglia by botanists, cultivated varieties in this group are very common in amenity landscape plantings throughout the region, especially around parks, larger commercial buildings and car parks. It has only recently been confirmed through DNA research that Pfitzer Junipers are hybrids between Juniperus chinensis and J. sabina, so older publications tend to list them as cultivated forms of J. chinensis (or sometimes under the name Juniperus x media).
Because of the confusion caused by earlier misidentifications between Pfitzer and Chinese Junipers, there seems to be no, readily available, reference that serves to help tell these two apart. In general, Pfitzer Juniper is likely to be a relatively low, broadly spreading plant with branches spreading out at less than 45 degrees to the vertical, though some may eventually reach 2.5-3m in height. Adult leaves dull grey-green, bright green or yellow-green, according to variety, scale-like and densely overlapping. Juvenile leaves longer, prickle-tipped and typically blue-grey in colour, appearing in opposite pairs or whorls of three. Male and female flowers carried on separate plants. Fruit on female plants a typical, blue-grey, juniper berry.
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Chinese Juniper Juniperus chinensis
Introduced from eastern Asia and most often represented in cultivation by a variety of ornamental forms. Though recorded in the past for Suffolk and Cambridegshire, it is not clear whether this species occurs in our region, due to the identification complications detailed under Pfitzer Juniper and, even now, there seems to be no, readily available, reference that serves to help tell Chinese and Pfitzer Junipers apart. In general, Chinese Juniper is likely to be a narrower, more upright plant, eventually forming a small tree. Foliage carried on ascending, spreading branches, with leaves in three-dimensional sprays. Adult leaves dull grey-green or blue-green (occasionally golden), scale-like, blunt-tipped and densely overlapping. Juvenile leaves longer, prickle-tipped and typically bright, blue-grey in colour, appearing in pairs or whorls of three. Male and female flowers carried on separate plants. Fruit on female plants a typical, blue-grey, juniper berry.
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Virginia Juniper Juniperus virginiana
(Eastern Red-cedar) Introduced from North America as an ornamental and amenity plant and rarely recorded as a garden throw-out or escape. A tree to 20m but often much less, in old age becoming more ragged and less regular in shape. Easily mistaken for a cypress species, but trees typically have a mix of both needle-like juvenile leaves and scale-like adult leaves. Juvenile leaves are sharply pointed and in overlapping pairs, while adult leaves are also rather narrow and sharply pointed. Female trees produce small, hard berries.
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Japanese Red-cedar Cryptomeria japonica
Introduced from Asia. The original tree form with adult-type foliage is occasionally grown as an ornamental in parks or trialed in forestry blocks. Garden forms with juvenile-type foliage occasionally appear as garden throw-outs or survivors on rough ground and roadsides. These are usually of the cultivar 'Elegans' and the whole plant turns a bronze-purple colour in winter.
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