A large group of related plants in
cypress / juniper / redwood family Cupressaceae
(in
🌲︎ conifer order Pinales
), including species:
Please let us know which other species you would like to see here, using the
button at the bottom of this page.
Different species are native 🌍︎🌎︎🌏︎ worldwide, mostly in the Northern Hemisphere.
🗺 Map by county (🇺🇸 USA-48)
(color key).
Junipers are the ❄ winter host for 🍄︎⚕︎ fungal disease
trellis rust (TR) Gymnosporangium sabinae. 
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! (In most towns, 3 blocks, maybe.)
Uses by native peoples
(Ethnobotany database)
Juniperus hosts caterpillars of 41 species
of butterflies and moths, in some areas.
Male trees score 🤧︎ most allergenic (10 out of 10) on the OPALS™ Ogren Plant Allergy Scale.
🌲︎ Conifer order Pinales
have 'naked' seeds — thus called
gymnosperm
— by:
- not enclosing its seeds with any ovary structure, and
- packaging their seeds in cones (a different type of female reproductive structure, apparently).
However, although
juniper genus Juniperus
and
yew family Taxaceae
are grouped with the 🌲︎ conifers above, these two subgroups violate both these rules, with seed cones that are fleshy and berry-like.