Juniperus chinensis var. chinensis
( 20 Seeds )

Botanical Nomenclature: Juniperus chinensis
Common Name: Chinese juniper
Family: Cupressaceae

Juniperus chinensis (Chinese juniper) is a juniper that grows as a shrub or tree with a very variable shape, reaching 1–20 m tall. This native of northeast Asia grows in China, Mongolia, Japan, Korea and the southeast of Russia.

It is a coniferous evergreen shrub. The leaves grow in two forms, juvenile needle-like leaves 5–10 mm long, and adult scale-leaves 1.5–3 mm long. Mature trees usually continue to bear some juvenile foliage as well as adult, particularly on shaded shoots low in the crown. This species is often dioecious, either male and female plants, but some individual plants produce both sexes of flowers. The blue-black berry-like cones grow to 7–12 mm in diameter, have a whitish waxy bloom, and contain 2–4 seeds; they mature in about 18 months. The male cones, 2–4 mm long, shed their pollen in early spring.