Juniperus aka Juniper

Junipers, belonging to the genus Juniperus, are coniferous trees and shrubs found in the cypress family Cupressaceae. There are approximately 50 to 67 species of junipers distributed across the Northern Hemisphere. From the Arctic to tropical Africa, and from western, central, and southern Asia to the mountains of Central America, junipers can be found in various regions. One of the highest tree lines on earth is formed by a juniper forest located at an altitude of 4,900 meters in southeastern Tibet and the northern Himalayas. These vigorous evergreen conifers are medium-sized shrubs with an irregular, spreading bushy habit. They can reach widths of up to 4 meters. Junipers have arching main branches that bear bright blue-grey, scale-like foliage and purplish fruits. Junipers are popular for Bonsai purposes and can be found in large stores as Japanese Garden or Green Mound Junipers. They are evergreen coniferous trees or shrubs with foliage colors ranging from dark blue-greens to light greens. The foliage can be scale-like or needle-like, with scale junipers usually developing needle-like foliage during their early stages of growth. After heavy pruning or bending, overwatering, or other stress, the juvenile foliage may grow again and last for a few years until enough normal scale-like foliage has grown, allowing the removal of all needle-like foliage. Junipers are well-suited for creating deadwood, known as jin and shari, due to the drying and dying of live veins below broken or dying branches. This natural deadwood is then peeled, polished, and bleached by climatic conditions, resulting in durable and visually appealing silvery white deadwood. The combination of green foliage, reddish-brown or yellowish-brown bark, and silvery white deadwood adds to the overall charm of junipers.