Juniperus recurva | |
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Foliage on a cultivated plant in Britain | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
(unranked): | Gymnospermae |
Division: | Pinophyta |
Class: | Pinopsida |
Order: | Pinales |
Family: | Cupressaceae |
Genus: | Juniperus |
Section: | Juniperus sect. Sabina |
Species: | J. recurva |
Binomial name | |
Juniperus recurva Buch.-Ham. ex D.Don | |
Juniperus recurva, commonly named the Himalayan juniper [2] or drooping juniper, is a juniper native to the Himalaya, from northern Pakistan, through India, Nepal and Bhutan, to western Yunnan in southwestern China. It grows at 3,000-4,000 m altitude.
Juniperus recurva is a large shrub or tree reaching 6–20 m tall (rarely 25 m), with a trunk up to 2 m diameter and a broadly conical to rounded or irregular crown. The leaves are needle-like, 5–10 mm long, arranged in six ranks in alternating whorls of three.
The cones are berry-like, globose to ovoid, 5–10 mm long and 4–7 mm diameter, glossy blue-black, and contain one seed; they are mature in about 18 months. The male cones are 3–4 mm long, and shed their pollen in early spring. It is largely monoecious with pollen and seed cones produced on the same plants.
There are two varieties, treated as distinct species by some botanists:
Juniperus recurva is planted as an ornamental tree in western Europe, valued for its drooping foliage, particularly pendulous in the cultivar 'Castlewellan'.
Juniperus communis, the common juniper, is a species of small tree or shrub in the cypress family Cupressaceae. This evergreen conifer 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. Relict populations can be found in the Atlas Mountains of Africa.
Juniperus indica, the black juniper, is a juniper native to high-altitude climates in the Himalaya, occurring in Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bhutan and China.
Juniperus oxycedrus, vernacularly called Cade, cade juniper, prickly juniper, prickly cedar, or sharp cedar, is a species of juniper, native across the Mediterranean region from Morocco and Portugal, north to southern France, east to westernmost Iran, and south to Lebanon and Israel, growing on a variety of rocky sites from sea level up to 1600 m elevation. The specific epithet oxycedrus means "sharp cedar" and this species may have been the original cedar or cedrus of the ancient Greeks.
Juniperus excelsa, commonly called the Greek juniper, is a juniper found throughout the eastern Mediterranean, from northeastern Greece and southern Bulgaria across Turkey to Syria and Lebanon, Jordan and the Caucasus mountains.
Juniperus drupacea, the Syrian juniper, is a species of juniper native to the eastern Mediterranean region from southern Greece, southern Turkey, western Syria, and Lebanon, growing on rocky sites from 800–1700 m altitude.
Juniperus occidentalis, known as the western juniper, is a shrub or tree native to the western United States, growing in mountains at altitudes of 800–3,000 metres (2,600–9,800 ft) and rarely down to 100 metres (330 ft). It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List because it is a widespread species with an increasing population.
Juniperus sabina, the savin juniper or savin, is a species of juniper native to the mountains of central and southern Europe and western and central Asia, from Spain to eastern Siberia, typically growing at altitudes of 1,000-3,300 m ASL.
Juniperus thurifera is a species of juniper native to the mountains of the western Mediterranean region, from southern France across eastern and central Spain to Morocco and locally in northern Algeria.
Juniperus procumbens is a species of shrub in the cypress family Cupressaceae, native to Japan. This low-growing evergreen conifer is closely related to the Chinese juniper, Juniperus chinensis, and is sometimes treated as a variety of it, as J. chinensis var. procumbens.
Juniperus squamata, the flaky juniper or Himalayan juniper, is a species of coniferous shrub in the cypress family Cupressaceae, native to the Himalayas and China
Juniperus deppeana is a small to medium-sized tree reaching 10–15 m tall. It is native to central and northern Mexico and the southwestern United States. It grows at moderate altitudes of 750–2,700 meters (2,460–8,860 ft) on dry soils.
Juniperus flaccida is a large shrub or small tree reaching 5–10 m tall. It is native to central and northern Mexico and the extreme southwest of Texas, United States. It grows at moderate altitudes of 800-2,600 m, on dry soils.
Juniperus foetidissima, with common names foetid juniper or stinking juniper, is a juniper tree species in the family Cupressaceae.
Taxus wallichiana, the Himalayan yew, is a species of yew, native to the Himalaya and parts of south-east Asia. The species has a variety of uses in traditional medicine. It is currently classified as endangered by the IUCN.
Juniperus monosperma is a species of juniper native to western North America, in the United States in Arizona, New Mexico, southern Colorado, western Oklahoma (Panhandle), and western Texas, and in Mexico in the extreme north of Chihuahua. It grows at 970–2300 m altitude.
Juniperus przewalskii, or Przewalski's juniper, is a species of juniper native to the mountains of western China in Gansu, Qinghai, and northernmost Sichuan, growing at altitudes of 1,000-3,300 m.
Juniperus pseudosabina, the Turkestan juniper or dwarf black juniper is a species of juniper.
Juniperus rigida, the temple juniper, is a species of juniper, native to northern China, Mongolia, Korea, Japan, and the far southeast of Russia, occurring at altitudes of 10–2,200 m. The species is also naturalized in the United States. It is closely related to Juniperus communis and Juniperus conferta, the latter sometimes treated as a variety or subspecies of J. rigida.
Juniperus semiglobosa is a species of juniper native to the mountains of Central Asia, in northeastern Afghanistan, westernmost China (Xinjiang), northern Pakistan, southeastern Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, western Nepal, northern Republic of India, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. It grows at altitudes of 1,550–4,350 metres (5,090–14,270 ft) .
Juniperus taxifolia is a species of juniper, endemic to the Bonin Islands southeast of Japan.