Foliage and cones (ANU Forestry 2015).
Foliage and cones (ANU Forestry 2015).
Juniperus chinensis
圆柏 yuan bai [Chinese]; ビャクシン ibuki, byakushin [Japanese]; Chinese juniper.
Four varieties, the type, J. chinensis var. sargentii A. Henry 1912, J. chinensis var. tsukusiensis Masamune 1930, and J. chinensis var. arenaria E.H. Wilson 1928. I have no data on var. arenaria, save that it occurs near Lake Qinghai in China (Farjon 1998).
Synonymy for var. chinensis (Farjon 1998):
Dioecious (rarely monoecious) evergreen creeping shrub, shrub or tree to 25 m tall, 60 cm dbh. Bark grey-brown to red-brown, longitudinally fissured, peeling off in thin flakes. Branches ascending; branchlets straight or slightly curved, red-green, glabrous, terete or 4-angled, 1-1.2 mm in diameter. Both acicular and scale-like leaves may be present, the acicular leaves predominating on juvenile plants and lower branches of older plants. The acicular leaves are decussate or in whorls of 3, loosely arranged, ascending, nearly lanceolate, (3-)6-12 mm long, 0.8-1.5 mm wide, compressed, apex pointed and soft or spiny, gradually narrowing toward base, with 2 white stomatal bands on upper surface, light to dark green, slightly ridged on lower surface. Scale leaves are decussate opposite, closely appressed, rhomboid-ovate, obtuse, ca. 1.5 mm long, 1 mm wide, dark green, with an oblong gland in middle of dorsal surface. Flowers are solitary, terminal on previous year's scale leaved shoots, appearing in February to April. Pollen cones are yellow, oblong-ellipsoid, 4-6 mm long and 2-3 mm wide, with 14-18 microsporophylls. Seed cones are on short stalks, globose, purple-black to purple-brown, 4-10 mm diameter, with (1-)3(-4) seeds. Seeds ovoid, blunt, keeled, triangular in cross section, brown, 3-6 mm long and 2-5 mm wide, with resin pits. Chromosome number: 2n = 22, 33, 44 (Iwatsuki et al. 1995, Fu et al. 1999).
Fu et al. (1999) present the following key to three of the varieties. See also J. procumbens, a similar species native to Japan.
| 1a. Trees or erect shrubs; needlelike leaves in whorls of 3, loosely arranged, 8-12 mm | var. chinensis |
| 1b. Shrubs procumbent; needlelike leaves decussate or in whorls of 3, densely arranged, 3-6 mm. | |
| 2a. Needlelike leaves sparse or absent on mature plants, decussate | var. sargentii |
| 2b. Needlelike leaves usually present on mature plants, often in whorls of 3 | var. tsukusiensis |
The species as a whole is native in China: Anhui, Fujian, Gansu, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Nei Mongol, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi, Sichuan, Yunnan, and Zhejiang; Taiwan; Japan; Korea; Myanmar; and Russia (Fu et al. 1999). Hardy to Zone 4 (cold hardiness limit between -34.3°C and -28.9°C) (Bannister and Neuner 2001, variety not specified).
Var. chinensis is restricted to China: Anhui, Fujian, S Gansu, Guangdong, N Guangxi, Guizhou, Hebei, Henan, W Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Nei Mongol, S Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi, Sichuan, Yunnan, and Zhejiang, at elevations of 1,400-2,300 m; Japan, on the Pacific Ocean side of Honshu (southward from Fukushima Prefecture and Chiba Prefecture to Wakayama Prefecture), Shikoku, Kyushu, and Ryukyu (Amami-oshima, Tokunoshima and Okinawa Islands), generally near the sea; Korea; and Myanmar (Iwatsuki et al. 1995, Fu et al. 1999).
I have no data on trees in habitat. The largest and tallest recorded cultivated specimen is 25 m tall and 228 cm girth (72.5 cm dbh) in Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France, as measured 2020.05.06 by Dominique Béziat (Monumental Trees 2020).
This is an extremely popular horticultural species, possibly the commonest ornamental juniper (perhaps excepting J. communis).
No data as of 2023.02.21.
The epithet refers to China, where the species is native.
ANU Forestry. 2015. [No title]. http://online.anu.edu.au/Forestry/teaching/t6/juniperus/juniper.html, accessed 2015.04.12, now defunct.
Elwes and Henry 1906-1913 at the Biodiversity Heritage Library. This series of volumes, privately printed, provides some of the most engaging descriptions of conifers ever published. Although they only treat species cultivated in the U.K. and Ireland, and the taxonomy is a bit dated, still these accounts are thorough, treating such topics as species description, range, varieties, exceptionally old or tall specimens, remarkable trees, and cultivation. Despite being over a century old, they are generally accurate, and are illustrated with some remarkable photographs and lithographs.
Farjon (2005) provides a detailed account, with illustrations.
Last Modified 2023-02-26
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