Temple Juniper, Needle Juniper                 ju-NIP-er-us RIJ-i-da

• Conifer, evergreen, shrub or a tree to about 30 ft (~10 m) high with a single trunk, open habit, branchlets had a graceful weeping habit on older trees.  Bark dull gray, fibrous, shallowly fissured.   Adult leaves in whorls of three, needle-like, about 1-2 cm long and only 1 mm wide, standing straight out from the point of attachment, very sharply pointed, deep to gray-green, with a narrow, deep, white stomatal furrow, edges smooth.  Dioecious - male and female structures on separate plants, rarely monoecious.  Pollen cones solitary in leaf axils, about 3-5 mm long.  Seed cones (fruit)solitary, globose, 6-8 mm thick, purplish to black-brown, with a waxy bloom, ripening in the second year.
• Sun, in well-drained soils.  Will tolerate hot, dry landscape conditions.
• Hardy to USDA Zone 5     Native to Japan, Korea, northeastern China, and southeastern Russia.
• Temple Juniper: widely cultivated in temples and gardens in Japan for its bright foliage and weeping habit.
• rigida: rigid, a reference to its stiff needles.
• Oregon State Univ. campus: Peavy Arboretum, southeast of Peavy Lodge.