Foliage and cones (Harkevich and Kachura 1981).
Juniperus rigida subsp. conferta
Hai-nezu [Japanese]; utnani [Ainu].
Syn: Juniperus conferta Parlatore 1863; J. rigida var. conferta (Parlatore) Patschke 1913; J. litoralis Maxim. 1868; J. rigida subsp. litoralis (Maxim.) Urussov 1981; J. coreana Nakai 1926.
Small dioecious evergreen shrub. Stems creeping, much branched and forming mats; branchlets reddish brown, densely clothed with more or less appressed leaves. Leaves 3-verticillate, stiff, pointed, needle-like, more or less curved, base jointed, 10-17 mm long, 1-2 mm wide, conspicuously concave on margin, nearly triangular in cross section, upper surface with one deep groove and one narrow white stomatal band along middle, dull green and ridged on lower surface. Flowers solitary in axils of previous year's shoots. Pollen cones globose-ovoid, yellow-green, ca. 3 mm long, 2.5 mm across, consisting of ca. 3-tiered verticillate scales, scales ovate, acute, green. Seed cones on short stalks densely clothed with small scale leaves, globose, green ripening to purple-black, 10-12 mm in diameter, 3-seeded. Seeds ellipsoid, subacute at one end, 3-ridged, 5-7 mm long. Chromosome number: 2n = 22. Pollination in July, seeds mature between October and December of the next year (Harkevich and Kachura 1981, Iwatsuki et al. 1995).
Japan and Russia. In Japan, found in W Hokkaido and Honshu (Pacific Ocean side from Iwate Prefecture to Wakayama Prefecture, excluding the Izu Peninsula and Izu Islands; Japan Sea side from Aomori Prefecture to Shimane Prefecture); on sandy soils near the sea. Rare in Russia, where found on sandy seashores of southern Sakhalin Island and perhaps in the Kuril Islands (Harkevich and Kachura 1981, Iwatsuki et al. 1995, Vladimir Dinets e-mail 1998.01.12).
No data as of 2023.03.03.
The branches were hung from the rafters, steeped to produce an infusion, or burned to produce a purifying smoke (Williams 2017, citing Ohnuki-Tierney 1981).
Most collections in habitat have been from coastal areas in the north half of Honshu and the southern half of Sakhalin.
The epithet conferta means "crowded" or "dense", likely a reference to the growth form.
Kitamura and Murata. 1979. Col. Ill. Woody Pl. Jap. 2: 409.
Ohnuki-Tierney, Emiko. 1981. Illness and Healing among the Sakhalin Ainu: A Symbolic Interpretation. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.
Williams, Dai. 2017. Ainu Ethnobiology. Tacoma, WA: Society of Ethnobiology. ISBN 978-0-9887330-7-7 (PDF). P. 45.
Last Modified 2023-11-29
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