Also called ground cedar. Part of juniper  genus Juniperus in cypress  family Cupressaceae.


Native to large parts of 🇨🇦 Canada and 🇮🇸 Iceland, coastal 🇬🇱 Greenland, and 🗻︎ mountainous or northern 🇺🇸 USA.

🌎︎ Map by county 🌎︎ map (scroll down) 🌎︎ map.  Adobe Acrobat Reader file

Uses by native peoples
(Ethnobotany database)

Juniperus hosts caterpillars of 41 species
of butterflies and moths, in some areas.

Junipers are the winter host for fungal disease trellis rust (TR)  Gymnosporangium sabinae.  Adobe Acrobat Reader file   Which then transfers to nearby 🍐︎ pear  genus Pyrus as the summer host.  Then back again!

So in areas that may have this disease, do not plant these two hosts within 300 m (1000 ft) of each other!

Learn more about common juniper Juniperus communis

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🏠︎ cypress  family Cupressaceae juniper  genus Juniperus