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Himalayan Juniper
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Himalayan Juniper
E Native Photo: Sunit Singh
Common name: Himalayan Juniper, Flaky Juniper • Nepali: धुपि Dhupi
Botanical name: Juniperus squamata    Family: Cupressaceae (Cypress family)
Synonyms: Juniperus densa, Juniperus fargesii, Juniperus kansuensis

Himalayan Juniper is an evergreen shrub, rarely a small tree, reaching 2-10 m tall, rarely 15 m, with flaky brown bark, and a prostrate to irregularly-conical crown. The leaves are broad, needle-like, 3-9 mm long, arranged in six ranks in alternating whorls of three, and often strongly a glaucous blue-green in color. Upper surface white, concave and lower surface convex. The cones are berry-like, spherical to ovoid, 4-9 mm long, and 4-6 mm diameter. Often, they are a glossy black and contain one seed; they are mature in about 18 months. The male cones are 3-4 mm long and shed their pollen in early spring. It is largely dioecious, with pollen and seed cones produced on separate plants, but occasionally monoecious.

Identification credit: J.M. Garg, Sunit Singh Photographed in Madhmaheshwar, Uttarakhand.

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