Juniperus horizontalis (Creeping Juniper) - photos and description
Leaves scale-like and overlapping.
Female on cones on stem tips, May 20th.
Female cone in above photo.
Females cones bluish and berry-like when pollenated.
Male cones at stem tips in above photo, April 24th
Male cones at stem tips in above photo, April 24th
General: A prostrate evergreen shrub, with long trailing branches.
Flowers: Male and female cones grow singly on stem tips, light brown or greenish-brown in colour. Male cones are catkin-like, often appear to be in bunches. Female flowers are scale-like also grow on stem tips, less numerous than male cones. We measured a male cone at 3 mm long, and female cones 4-5 mm diameter. Once fertilized the female cones become the bluish Juniper berries, the berries about 8 mm diameter. Male and female cones grow on different plants (dioecious).
Leaves: Leaves are opposite, scale-like and overlapping, with acute tips, not prickly, we measured a leaf to 2 mm long, leaves grow on branchlets, branchlets measured to 10 mm long.
Height: Stems listed in Budd's Flora to a length of 5 m, we measured stems to 1.2 m long, and plants to 25 cm tall.
Habitat: Dry and sandy terrain in southern Saskatchewan.
Abundance: Very common.
Origin: Native.
When and where photographed: The above photos were taken April 24th and May 20th, sandy prairie, Douglas Provincial Park, about 200 km northwest of Regina, SK, July 24th, hillside Frenchman River Valley, West Block Grasslands National Park, about 400 km southwest of Regina, SK, and August 7th, hillside in badlands, East Block Grasslands National Park, about 300 km southwest of our home in Regina, SK.