Juniperus recurva

Juniperus recurva, commonly named the Himalayan juniper[1] or drooping juniper, is a juniper native to the Himalaya, from northern Pakistan east to western Yunnan in southwestern China. It grows at 3,000-4,000 m altitude.

Juniperus recurva
Foliage on a cultivated plant in Britain
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Division: Pinophyta
Class: Pinopsida
Order: Pinales
Family: Cupressaceae
Genus: Juniperus
Section: Juniperus sect. Sabina
Species:
J. recurva
Binomial name
Juniperus recurva

Description

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.

Varieties

There are two varieties, treated as distinct species by some botanists:

  • Juniperus recurva var. recurva - leaves mostly 5–8 mm. Throughout the range.
  • Juniperus recurva var. coxii - leaves mostly 7–10 mm. Confined to the eastern Himalaya on high rainfall sites.

Cultivation

Juniperus recurva is planted as an ornamental tree in western Europe, valued for its drooping foliage, particularly pendulous in the cultivar 'Castlewellan'.

References
  1. "BSBI List 2007". Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland. Archived from the original (xls) on 2014-10-23. Retrieved 2014-10-17.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.