Juniperus horizontalis
Juniperus horizontalis, the creeping juniper or creeping cedar, is a low-growing shrubby juniper native to northern North America, throughout most of Canada from Yukon east to Newfoundland, and in some of the northern United States.
Description
Living up to both its scientific and common names, the species reaches only tall but often spreading several metres wide. The shoots are slender, diameter. The leaves are arranged in opposite decussate pairs, or occasionally in whorls of three; the adult leaf blades are scale-like, 1–2 mm long and broad, and derive from an adnate petiole. The juvenile leaves are needle-like, long. The cones are berry-like, globose to bilobed, in diameter, dark blue with a pale blue-white waxy bloom, and contain two seeds ; they usually have a curved stem and are mature in about 18 months. The male cones are long, and shed their pollen in early spring. It is dioecious, producing cones of only one sex on each plant.It is closely related to Juniperus virginiana, and often hybridizes with it where their ranges meet in southern Canada. Hybrids with Juniperus scopulorum also occur.