Juniperus chinensis (Chinese juniper)

Juniperus chinensis itoigawa #6 Juniperus chinensis itoigawa #6

One of the most popular variety of Juniperus chinensis is known as shimpaku juniper or Juniperus chinensis sargentii in botanical Latin. It has been discovered just about a century and a half ago in Japan, but since then it has been over-collected and it is now almost extinct in the wild.

A special kind of shimpaku called itoigawa was discovered by a collector around Mount Kurohime in the island of Sado and its qualities soon lead to a very high demand causing its disapearance from the area. But it is possible to find trees in nurseries that initially came from cuttings of those collected specimens.

Varieties

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