General: Sprawling, evergreen shrub, 0.5-3.0 m tall; bark very thin, reddish-brown, shredding and scaly.
Leaves: Needle-like, with whitish channel on upper surface, (5) 7-12 (19) mm long, in whorls of three on stem.
Cones: Seed cones fleshy, berrylike, egg-shaped to globose, 6-9 mm long, green in first year, ripening in second year to bluish black; pollen and seed cones on separate plants.
1. Leaves awl-shaped, in whorls of 3, spreading; the berrylike fruits sessile in the leaf axils J. communis
1. Leaves mostly scalelike, opposite, appressed to stem; the berrylike-like fruits terminal on the branchlets.
2. Low, spreading or creeping shrubs; fruits recurved on short stalks J. horizontalis
2. Small trees or erect shrubs; fruits erect or nodding J. scopulorum
SourceThe Illustrated Flora of British Columbia
Note that since the publication of the Illustrated Flora, new species have been added to the BC flora, and are not incorporated in the keys.
Habitat / Range
Dry slopes and open forests to wet coastal muskeg in the lowland to alpine zones; common throughout BC; circumpolar, N to AK, E to NF and S to CA, AZ, NM, and GA; Eurasia.
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range. (Updated August, 2013)
