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 (to 8 mm on lead shoots) and broad, and derive from an adnate petiole. The juvenile leaves (on young seedlings only) 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 (rarely one or three); 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. Distribution and habitat The species is native to northern North America, throughout most of Canada from Yukon east to Newfoundland, and in the United States in Alaska, and continentally from Montana east to Maine, reaching its furthest south in Wyoming and northern Illinois. Amongst the sites it occupies are rocky areas of the east slopes of the Rocky Mountains. Cultivation and uses Well over 100 different cultivars have been selected for use as ornamental plants in gardens, their strictly prostrate growth habit being valued for ground cover. Popular examples include 'Bar Harbor', 'Blue Acres', 'Emerald Spreader', 'Green Acres', and 'Wiltonii' ("Blue Rug Juniper"). Many of the most popular cultivars have strikingly glaucous foliage, while others are bright green, yellowish or variegated. Gallery References Further reading Adams, R. P. (2004). Junipers of the World: The genus Juniperus. Trafford Publishing External links USDA Plants Profile for Juniperus horizontalis (creeping juniper) Gymnosperm Database: Juniperus horizontalis Flora of North America: Juniperus horizontalis Plantmaps.com: Interactive Distribution Map of Juniperus horizontalis Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, NPIN Database: Juniperus horizontalis (Creeping juniper, Creeping savin) horizontalis Flora of Subarctic America Flora of Canada Flora of the North-Central United States Flora of the Northeastern United States Flora of the Great Lakes region (North