Index / Search / Juniperus communis
§1 Plant — species · Cupressaceae
Juniperus communis L.
vernacular common juniper
§2Habit & range
Habit and range
- Growth habit
- Shrub, Tree
- Duration
- Perennial
- Group
- Gymnosperm
- Family
- Cupressaceae Gray
- Genus
- Juniperus
§2a
Native status, by region
- AK Alaska Native
- CAN Canada Native
- GL Greenland Native
- L48 Lower 48 States Native
- SPM St. Pierre & Miquelon Native
§3Cultivation specs · USDA
Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.
§3a
Tolerances
- Drought
- High
- Shade
- High
- Moisture use
- Low
- Fire
- Low
- Salinity
- Medium
- Anaerobic
- None
- CaCO₃
- High
- Hedging
- Medium
§3b
Climate & soil
- Cold tolerance
- -43 °F minimum
- Frost-free days
- 90 min.
- Precipitation
- 20–60 in/yr
- pH range
- 5.5–8
- Root depth
- 14 in min.
- Fertility need
- Low
- Soil texture
- coarse, medium, fine
§3c
Form & growth
- Growth form
- Single Stem
- Growth rate
- Slow
- Lifespan
- Long
- Mature height
- 10 ft
- Height @ 20 y
- 5 ft
- Foliage texture
- Medium
- Foliage colour
- Green
- Porosity (summer)
- Dense
- Porosity (winter)
- Dense
- Flower colour
- Yellow
- Fruit colour
- Blue
- Fire resistant
- No
- N fixation
- None
- Toxicity
- None
§3d
Reproduction
- Bloom period
- Mid Spring
- Seed abundance
- Medium
- Seed begins
- Summer
- Seed ends
- Fall
- Spread rate
- Slow
- Stratify
- Yes
- Seeds / lb
- 40,363
- Propagation
- seed, bare root, container
§3e
Use & availability
- Commercial availability
- Routinely Available
- Nursery stock
- Yes
- Browse palatability
- Low
- Graze palatability
- Low
- Palatable, human
- No
- Protein potential
- Low
- Lumber
- No
- Christmas tree
- No
§4Montana distribution
Recorded in 28 of 56 Montana counties.
Native · 28 counties
- Broadwater 30007
- Carter 30011
- Cascade 30013
- Dawson 30021
- Fallon 30025
- Fergus 30027
- Flathead 30029
- Gallatin 30031
- Garfield 30033
- Glacier 30035
- Golden Valley 30037
- Hill 30041
- Jefferson 30043
- Judith Basin 30045
- Lewis and Clark 30049
- Lincoln 30053
- Missoula 30063
- Park 30067
- Phillips 30071
- Powder River 30075
- Richland 30083
- Roosevelt 30085
- Sheridan 30091
- Stillwater 30095
- Teton 30099
- Toole 30101
- Valley 30105
- Wheatland 30107
§5Sources & provenance
USDA PLANTS
Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.
plants.usda.gov/JUCO6 ↗GBIF Backbone
Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.
gbif.org/species/2684709 ↗Record version
Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:
usda-plants-mt-2026-05-25
fetched 2026-05-25T16:28:53Z