''Juniperus horizontalis'', the creeping juniper or creeping cedar,Bailey, L.H.; Bailey, E.Z.; the staff of the Liberty Hyde Bailey Hortorium. 1976. ''Hortus third: A concise dictionary of plants cultivated in the United States and Canada''. Macmillan, New York. is a low-growing shrubby

juniper Junipers are coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Juniperus'' () of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Depending on the taxonomy, between 50 and 67 species of junipers are widely distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere, from the Arcti ...

native to northern North America, throughout most of

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

from

Yukon Yukon (; ; formerly called Yukon Territory and also referred to as the Yukon) is the smallest and westernmost of Canada's three territories. It also is the second-least populated province or territory in Canada, with a population of 43,964 as ...

east to

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

, and in some of the northern

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

Description

Living up to both its scientific and common names, the species reaches only tall but often spreading several metres wide. The shoots are slender, diameter. The leaves are arranged in opposite decussate pairs, or occasionally in whorls of three; the adult leaf blades are scale-like, 1–2 mm long (to 8 mm on lead shoots) and broad, and derive from an adnate petiole. The juvenile leaves (on young seedlings only) are needle-like, long. The cones are berry-like, globose to bilobed, in diameter, dark blue with a pale blue-white waxy bloom, and contain two

seed A seed is an embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer covering, along with a food reserve. The formation of the seed is a part of the process of reproduction in seed plants, the spermatophytes, including the gymnosperm and angiosper ...

s (rarely one or three); they usually have a curved stem and are mature in about 18 months. The male cones are long, and shed their pollen in early spring. It is

dioecious Dioecy (; ; adj. dioecious , ) is a characteristic of a species, meaning that it has distinct individual organisms (unisexual) that produce male or female gametes, either directly (in animals) or indirectly (in seed plants). Dioecious reproducti ...

, producing cones of only one sex on each plant. It is closely related to ''

Juniperus virginiana ''Juniperus virginiana'', also known as red cedar, eastern red cedar, Virginian juniper, eastern juniper, red juniper, and other local names, is a species of juniper native to eastern North America from southeastern Canada to the Gulf of Mexico ...

'', and often hybridizes with it where their ranges meet in southern

. Hybrids with ''

Juniperus scopulorum ''Juniperus scopulorum'', the Rocky Mountain juniper, is a species of juniper native to western North America, from southwest Canada to the Great Plains of the United States. Description ''Juniperus scopulorum'' is a small evergreen conifer re ...

'' also occur.

Distribution and habitat

The species is native to northern North America, throughout most of Canada from

east to

, and in the

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S ...

, and continentally from

Montana Montana () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West List of regions of the United States#Census Bureau-designated regions and divisions, division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North ...

east to

Maine Maine () is a U.S. state, state in the New England and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and territories of Canad ...

, reaching its furthest south in

Wyoming Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the southwest, and Colorado to the sou ...

and northern

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Roc ...

. Amongst the sites it occupies are rocky areas of the east slopes of the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico in ...

Cultivation and uses

Well over 100 different

cultivar A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture ...

s have been selected for use as

ornamental plant Ornamental plants or garden plants are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars that ...

s in gardens, their strictly prostrate growth habit being valued for ground cover. Popular examples include 'Bar Harbor', 'Blue Acres', 'Emerald Spreader', 'Green Acres', and 'Wiltonii' ("Blue Rug Juniper"). Many of the most popular cultivars have strikingly glaucous foliage, while others are bright green, yellowish or variegated.

Gallery

Image:Juniperus horizontalis, Pancake Bay PP.jpg, Plant at Pancake Bay sand dunes,

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

, Canada Image:Juniperus horizontalis Wiltonii1.jpg, ''Juniperus horizontalis'' 'Wiltonii' as a garden plant

References

External links

USDA Plants Profile for ''Juniperus horizontalis'' (creeping juniper)

Flora of North America: ''Juniperus horizontalis''

Plantmaps.com: Interactive Distribution Map of ''Juniperus horizontalis''

Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, NPIN Database: ''Juniperus horizontalis'' (Creeping juniper, Creeping savin)
{{Taxonbar, from=Q121427 horizontalis Flora of Subarctic America Flora of Canada Flora of the North-Central United States Flora of the Northeastern United States Flora of the Great Lakes region (North America) Flora of Montana Dioecious plants Least concern flora of North America Least concern flora of the United States Garden plants of North America Groundcovers Plants described in 1794

Description

Distribution and habitat

Cultivation and uses

Gallery

References

Further reading

External links