Juniperus chinensis

Linnaeus (1767)

Common names

圆柏 yuan bai [Chinese]; ビャクシン ibuki, byakushin [Japanese]; Chinese juniper.

Taxonomic notes

This species anchors a highly diverse clade within Section Sabina (Adams 2014, Farhat et al. 2019). There are two varieties: the type, and Juniperus chinensis var. sargentii A. Henry. Also, some recent authors have treated J. tsukusiensis as a variety of J. chinensis. The remainder of this page focuses on the type variety.

Type: Sweden, a cultivated specimen in the Uppsala Botanic Garden, LINN1198.3, lectotype LINN. There are 94 synonyms for var. chinensis! See POWO for the full list.

There is a named hybrids: Juniperus × pfitzeriana (Späth) P.A.Schmidt, a tetraploid, is the hybrid of J. chinensis and J. sabina (Schmidt 1983).

Description

For the type variety: 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 in whorls of 3 (rarely, decussate), loosely arranged, ascending, nearly lanceolate, 6-12 × 0.8-1.5 mm, 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 decussate, closely appressed, rhomboid-ovate, obtuse, ca. 1.5 mm long, 1 mm wide, dark green, with an oblong gland in middle of abaxial surface. Pollen cones on terminal twigs, yellow, oblong-ellipsoid, 4-6 × 2-3 mm, with 14-18 microsporophylls. Seed cones solitary on terminal twigs, fertile in February to April, borne on short stalks, globose; at maturity 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, 44, i.e. some populations are tetraploid (Iwatsuki et al. 1995, Fu et al. 1999, Farjon 2010, Farhat et al. 2019). See García Esteban et al. (2004) for a detailed characterization of the wood anatomy.

Distribution and Ecology

For the type variety: 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 1,400-2,400 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). In habitat, it is most common in secondary vegetation, i.e. on human-disturbed sites, found on open rocky slopes. Occasionally, as in S Gansu, it forms tall forest trees, sometimes mixed with Pinus spp. or deciduous angiosperms. It has long been planted as an amenity tree, often in areas where it readily naturalizes, so it is difficult to establish its original native range (Farjon 2010). Hardy to Zone 4 (cold hardiness limit between -34.3°C and -28.9°C) (Bannister and Neuner 2001, variety not specified).

Due to its very wide distribution, with innumerable independent populations, this species is rated "Least Concern" for conservation.

Remarkable Specimens

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). In east Asia, the largest specimens are in gardens, typically gardens associated with ancient temples (Farjon 2010).

Ethnobotany

The hard, durable wood is highly valued for furniture and joinery. This is an extremely popular horticultural species, one of the commonest ornamental junipers; certainly it is so in China. Its horticultural hybrid with J. sabina, called J. × pfitzeriana, is also an extremely popular ornamental, and many cultivars of these taxa exist. This is also a popular bonsai and penjing subject (Farjon 2010).

Observations

No data as of 2025.01.04.

Remarks

The epithet refers to China, where the species is native.

Citations

Adams, Robert P. 2014. Junipers of the World: The Genus Juniperus. Fourth edition. Trafford Publishing. Brief versions of the descriptions are available online at Adam's website, www.juniperus.org.

ANU Forestry. 2015. [No title]. http://online.anu.edu.au/Forestry/teaching/t6/juniperus/juniper.html, accessed 2015.04.12, now defunct.

Farhat, P., O. Hidalgo, T. Robert, S. Siljak-Yakovlev, I. J. Leitch, R. P. Adams, and M. Bou Dagher-Kharrat. 2019. Polyploidy in the conifer genus Juniperus: an unexpectedly high rate. Frontiers in Plant Science 10, doi: 10.3389/fpls.2019.00676.

Linnaeus, C. 1767. Mantissa Plantarum 1:127. Available: Biodiversity Heritage Library, accessed 2025.01.04.

See also

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.