Foliage and cones (Harkevich and Kachura 1981).
Juniperus rigida
ネズミサシ nezu, nezumi-sashi, muro [Japanese]; 杜松 du song [Chinese]; needle juniper.
Two subspecies, the type and subsp. conferta.
Synonymy for the type (Farjon 1998):
[For the typical subspecies:] Dioecious (rarely monoecious) evergreen shrub or small tree up to 10 m tall and 45 cm dbh with ascending or horizontally spreading branches and pendulous branchlets. Bark thin and scaly, red-brown, later gray, furrowed on old trees. Branchlets slender, triangular, red-brown, glabrous, with scattered spreading leaves. Leaves dark green, needle-like, in whorls of 3, not decurrent, rigid, sharply pointed and prickly, with a V-shaped cross-section, (10-)12-20(-28) mm long, about 1 mm wide, deep green on lower surface with a narrow white stomatal band above. Flowers April, solitary in axils of previous year's shoots. Pollen cones in whorls of 3, ellipsoid or subglobose, yellowish green, 3-5 mm long, with 9-12 (or more) microsporophylls each with 4-7 pollen sacs. Seed cones axillary on very short stalks, stalks densely clothed with small scaly leaves, young cones green, ripening to light brown-blue or blue-black with a strong resinous odor, globose to ovoid, 6-10 mm across with (2-)3 seeds. Seeds oblong or triangular, resinous, brown, 3(-4)-ridged, ca. 6 mm long, 3 mm wide. Sources report seeds ripening from late in the second year to late summer in the third year. Chromosome number: 2n = 22 (Harkevich and Kachura 1981, Vidakovic 1991, Iwatsuki et al. 1995, Fu et al. 1999).
Japan, Korea, China, Russia. In Japan, found in Honshu (southward from Iwate Prefecture), N Shikoku, and N and C Kyushu at 100-1000 m elevation (Iwatsuki et al. 1995). In China, found in Gansu, N Hebei, Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Nei Mongol, Ningxia, Qinghai, and Shaanxi in dry mountainous areas at up to 2200 m elevation (Fu et al. 1999). Rare in Russia, where in only occurs in S Ussuriland, on limestone rocks and sandy seashores (Harkevich and Kachura 1981). Hardy to Zone 5 (cold hardiness limit between -28.8°C and -23.3°C) (Bannister and Neuner 2001).
No data as of 2023.03.03.
In Russia, easy to see in Lazovsky Zapovednik (Harkevich and Kachura 1981).
Siebold and Zuccarini. 1844. Fl. Jap. 2: 56, t. 125.
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 2023-03-03
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