Common juniper
Needles attached singly in whorls of three to shoots, tapering from base to sharp-pointed tip. Upperside with bright white stomatal bands, undersides dark green. Separate male and female plants, cones resemble small spherical berries ripening from pale green to purple-black over two to three years. Crushed foliage and berries with a gin fragrance, strongest in berries. Form highly variable from tightly fastigiate small trees, through raggedly spreading shrub to prostrate ground cover, often all within the same population.
Common juniper has the widest natural distribution of any conifer, wrapping around the northern hemisphere. In the British Isles it is found on dry chalk downland, limestone landscapes, and peaty substrates - sometimes boggy. Juniper is currently under threat from the soil and water-borne fungus-like pathogen, Phytopthora austrocedri which causes dieback and eventually death of infected plants. Various subspecies have been described with either two or three currently present in the British Isles.