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Juniperus occidentalis
Also called Sierra Juniper, Western Cedar
Western juniper is a shrub or small tree of dry, rocky sites in the western United States, usually 4 to 15 m tall. It is hardy and drought tolerant, and it grows best in full sun with very good drainage.
Juniperus occidentalis, known as the western juniper, is a shrub or tree native to the Western United States, growing in mountains at altitudes of 800–3,000 meters (2,600–9,800 ft) and rarely down to 100 m (330 ft). It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List because it is a widespread species with an increasing population.
J. occidentalis can be found in the Western United States—specifically southeast Washington, eastern and central Oregon, southwest Idaho, northeastern California and extreme northwest Nevada, north of 40° 30' N latitude, east of the Cascade Range.
Like other junipers, J. occidentalis produces a crop of cones called a juniper berry. While original European gins used berries from J. communis, several distilleries—particularly in Bend, Oregon—have used local western juniper to flavor their gin.
California Juniper · Canary Islands Juniper · Chinese Juniper · Common Juniper · Alligator Juniper · One-seed Juniper · African Juniper · Creeping Juniper · Drooping Juniper · Temple Juniper · Rocky Mountain Juniper · Flaky Juniper
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Juniperus occidentalis by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
