Tree · Cupressaceae
Common juniper
Juniperus communis · includes its varieties and subspecies
Common juniper is recorded as native to 37 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 539 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Common juniper at a glance
- Native in
- 539 counties, across 37 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 3a PLANTS minimum temperature −43°F
- Mature height
- 10 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Full sun (shade-intolerant) Low water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 3a. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −43°F; zone 3a winters bottom out at −40°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Common juniper is recorded as native to 37 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 539 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 539 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alaska 18 counties
- Arizona 5 counties
- California 10 counties
- Colorado 37 counties
- Connecticut statewide record
- Georgia 1 county
- Idaho 24 counties
- Illinois 2 counties
- Indiana 7 counties
- Kentucky 3 counties
- Maine 16 counties
- Maryland 2 counties
- Massachusetts 13 counties
- Michigan 54 counties
- Minnesota 40 counties
- Montana 25 counties
- Nebraska 3 counties
- Nevada 5 counties
- New Hampshire 10 counties
- New Jersey 10 counties
- New Mexico 11 counties
- New York 37 counties
- North Carolina 2 counties
- North Dakota 16 counties
- Ohio 3 counties
- Oregon 23 counties
- Pennsylvania 25 counties
- Rhode Island 3 counties
- South Carolina 1 county
- South Dakota 6 counties
- Utah 27 counties
- Vermont 9 counties
- Virginia 5 counties
- Washington 20 counties
- West Virginia 2 counties
- Wisconsin 43 counties
- Wyoming 21 counties
Growing traits
Values from the PLANTS characteristics record. “Not recorded” means PLANTS has no value; nothing here is estimated except the zone.
Growth
- Growth habit
- Shrub, Tree
- Duration
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 10 ft
- Growth rate
- Slow
- Growth form
- Single Stem
- Shape
- Semi-Erect
- Lifespan
- Long
- Active growth period
- Spring and Summer
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Intolerant (full sun (shade-intolerant))
- Moisture use
- Low water use
- Drought tolerance
- High
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- None
- Precipitation range
- 20 to 60 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Coarse, medium and fine
- pH range
- 5.5 to 8
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- High
- Salinity tolerance
- Medium
- Fertility requirement
- Low
- Minimum root depth
- 14 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −43°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 3a and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 90
- Fire tolerance
- Low
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- Yellow
- Showy flowers
- No
- Bloom period
- Mid Spring
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- No
- Keeps leaves
- Yes
- Fruit color
- Blue
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- Routinely Available
- Family
- Cupressaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- JUCO6
Source & data date
- Source
- USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: county distribution records, native status and plant characteristics. CC0 (public domain dedication, per the data.gov catalog record).
- Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP): native or introduced status by state. CC BY 3.0.
- USGS US-RIIS (ver. 2.0): species listed as introduced are excluded. CC0.
- Citation
- USDA, NRCS. 2026. The PLANTS Database (https://plants.usda.gov, 11/04/2026). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC USA.
- Govaerts R. (ed.) (2026). WCVP: World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Data file dated 2026-06-04, http://sftp.kew.org/pub/data-repositories/WCVP/ (retrieved 2026-11-04). Paper: Govaerts R. et al. (2021) The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. Scientific Data 8, 215.
- Data date
- Retrieved from PLANTS on November 4, 2026; WCVP data file dated June 4, 2026.
- Scope
- Juniperus communis (PLANTS symbol JUCO6), including 1 variety or subspecies folded into the species.
- Method
- A species is listed when it is recorded as native to the state in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in the county by USDA PLANTS. Species PLANTS labels both native and introduced are listed separately. Full method · All sources