Alpine Juniper

Description:

Prostrate ground-hugging shrub; leaves short, 3–8 mm; cones often larger, 7–12 mm, usually longer than the leaves; found in subarctic areas and high altitude alpine zones in temperate areas. Juniperus communis is a shrub or small coniferous evergreen tree, very variable and often a low spreading shrub, but occasionally reaching 10 m tall. It has needle-like leaves; the leaves are green, with a single white band on the inner surface. It is dioecious, with male and female cones on separate plants, which are wind pollinated. The seed cones are berry-like, green ripening in 18 months to purple-black with a blue waxy coating; they are spherical, 4–12 mm diameter, and usually have three (occasionally six) fused scales, each scale with a single seed. The seeds are dispersed when birds eat the cones, digesting the fleshy scales and passing the hard seeds in their droppings. The male cones are yellow, 2–3 mm long, and fall soon after shedding their pollen in March–April

Habitat:

High mountain above 1900 m. Parque Nacional de Sierra de Guadarrama, Peñalara

Notes:

Camera Model: NIKON D300. Exposure Time: 1/60 sec.; f/32; ISO Speed Rating: 800. Exposure Bias: 0 EV. Focal Length: 90.0 mm. Flash fired