Juniperus of the World

Key to J. communis varieties:

1a. tree or upright shrub, leaves 15 – 20 (25) mm, straight (not curved), acuminate – subulate,
restricted to the eastern hemisphere ……………...............……............…….var. communis

1b. prostrate or small shrub, leaves 8 -15 mm, curved (upturned), closely set, linear to
linear-oblong, acuminate to subulate, in both eastern and/or western hemispheres

2a. seed cones 10 – 13 mm diam., larger than leaf length, known only from southeastern
Canada ……...............................................................................….....var. megistocarpa

2b. seed cones 6 – 9 mm diam., smaller than leaf length, eastern and western hemispheres

3a. glaucous stomatal band about as wide to 1.5 x as wide as each green leaf margin,
prostrate or low shrub with ascending branchlet tips (or occasionally a spreading
shrub), leaves upturned, rarely spreading, linear to curved, western hemisphere
..........................................................................................…………....…..var. depressa

3b. glaucous stomatal band twice or more as wide as each green leaf margin,
spreading, mat-like shrub (or occasionally upright), leaves upright, sometimes almost
imbricate, closely set, linear lanceolate

4a. mature seed cones length greater than leaf length, grows in muskeg bogs, Calvert
Island to Queen Charlotte Islands, and north to, Chichagof Island, Alaska
..........................................................................................................var. charlottensis

4b. mature seed cones length less than or equal to leaf length

5a. mature seed cones elongated-subglobose, stomatal band 3 to 4 times as wide as
each green leaf margin …...................................................…….……...............var. jackii

5b. mature seed cones globose, stomatal band approximately 2 times as wide as
each green leaf margin

6a. leaves deeply concave, curved, without keel............................................var. saxatilis

6b. leaves not deeply concave, less curved, with keel, restricted to the far east:
Korea, Kamchatka peninsula, Japan, southern Sakhalin Island
...............................................................................................................var. nipponica

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