Scientific Name
Other Names
Life Form
Synonyms
Family
Ornamental - It is a popular landscaping shrub valued for its evergreen foliage, dense form, and colors. It is used in hedges or windbreaks due to its dense growth habit.
China
It prefers well-drained soils in full-sun locations. It grows in mountains, foothills, and rocky slopes.
Popular in horticulture due to its low, spreading growth habit.
It is an evergreen shrub or small tree that grows up to 3 m tall with dense branching spread to 1.5 m. It is hybrid of Juniperus chinensis and Juniperus sabina.
Stems are woody and branching, with reddish-brown bark that peels in thin strips as the plant matures. The branching pattern is irregular and spreading, creating a dense, bushy form.
Leaves are scale-like and arranged in opposite pairs along the stems. They are dimorphic, meaning there are two distinct leaf types on the same plant. One type is smaller and tightly pressed against the stems, while the other type is larger and emerges at right angles, giving the foliage a feathery texture. Leaf color varies depending on the cultivar, ranging from green to blue-green.
Flowers are unisexual (separate male and female cones) and appear on the same plant. Male cones are small, yellow clustered at the tips of branches. Female cones are green and even smaller at the young stage and mature into berry-like cones.
Fruit is a globose (round) cone, about 1 cm in diameter. It matures from green to a blue-black or purplish color with a waxy coating. The fruit contains 1-3 seeds and is fleshy when young, becoming drier at maturity.
Male cone: January-February Female cone: January-February Seed: The seed maturation process is quite slow.