Conifer Trees Database

Juniperus communis var. saxatilis, was described in 1788 by Peter Simon von Pallas (1741-1811), in Flora Rossica, vol. 1. Although there doesn't appear to be a well-known common name, the varietal name, "saxatilis" translates into "living among the rocks" in the Latin language.

Description. This variety of common juniper is an evergreen, coniferous species of shrub that grows spreading to mat-like, to mature dimensions of 20 to 40 inches (0.5 - 1 m) wide.

• Leaves grow upturned or upcurled, to 0.6 inch (15 mm) long and 0.08 inch (2 mm) wide, with linear-lanceolate shape, sometimes almost overlapping. Individual needles are glaucous, with a stomatal band on each adaxial leaf surface, measuring 2 or more times width of each green marginal band. Apicies are acute to obtuse and mucronate.
  
• Seed cones measure 0.24 to 0.36 inch (6 - 9 mm) long and are shorter than leaves.

Distribution. This variety is native to Europe - The Caucasus and Siberia; as well as central Asia, western Asia - Jammu-Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Nepal, and Pakistan; in northeastern and northwestern China; Japan, Korea, the Russian far east, western North America, and Greenland; found growing at elevations of sea level to 13,000 feet (0 - 4,050 m) above sea level in montane to alpine habitats.

Hardy to USDA Zone 3 - cold hardiness limit between -40° and -30°F (-39.9° and -34.4°C).