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Juniperus Sabina
Savin Juniper - Ginepro Sabino
Family: Cupressaceae
This is a graceful, low evergreen shrub
with ascending or spreading branches that ascend or spread at a high
angle and flare out at the top, producing a goblet shape. It is usually
about 4-5 ft. high, though sometimes attaining 10-15 ft., and is useful
on soil which is too light and sandy for most growing things. Leaves
dark green and of two types: needle-like in pairs, concave and glaucous
above; on mature branches scale-like, rather thick and with a gland on
the back. Flowers are dioecious and of no ornamental value. Fruit is
globose/globular, 1/4 in. long brown berry-like cones covered wiht
bluish bloom and found on recurved stakes, 4 to 6 scales. The bark
is hard to see generally covered with needles. It has a wide-spreading
habit and slow growth rate.
Native to mountains of central and
southern Europe, western Asia to Siberia. Hardy from zone 3 southward.
One of the handsomest dwarf evergreens,
it stands city conditions and likes limey soil. The whole plant has a
strong, slightly disagreeable odor; var. eupressifolia, a low,
almost prostrate form, usually with overlapping, scale-like leaves; var.
tamariscifolia, a low form to which the leaves are mostly
needle-like and borne in 3's.
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A young
Juniperus sabina 'Tamariscifolia' (Tamarix Juniper)
with typical rounded top, branches arching out from the centre carrying
the upward-facing branchlets of rich deep-green foliage, which is quite
prickly to handle; the tiny leaves are mainly of juvenile type and
sharp. |
Juniperus sabina
'Tamariscifolia' (Tam/Tamarix Juniper)
A conifer that stands out among alI others
as a distinct and recognisable form, 'Tamariscifolia' (above photograph)
has been in cultivation for 200 years and will doubtless continue to be
grown for a long time yet. It is technically a botanical variety, being
found in the wild in Southern Europe, and is therefore often found
listed as var. tamariscifolia. Poorly-nourished plants usually
revert to adult foliage and the bluish-dark green color will fade to an
unattractive dull green. It can be expected to make a tidy mound of
foliage of 1.5m (4ft) wide by 50cm (20in) high in ten years and can be
kept to this size if required by a yearly pruning. Two similar
cultivars, 'Broadmoor' and 'Buffalo', have recently been introduced as
compact-growing editions of 'Tamariscifolia'. Hardiness 5.
- Conifer, evergreen, shrub, low spreading, mounded form, 18"
(45 cm) high by 10 ft (30 m) across, branches horizontal and layered
on each other, branchlets crowded, tend to arise from upper 30o of a
branch. Leaves scale-like (4 ranked), sharp tipped, out spreading
and, on older branchlets, awl-shaped, 2-3 mm long, blue-green. Like
other J. sabina, leaves emit an unpleasant odor when crushed;
difficult to detect in cold weather.
- Sun. Adaptable. Does well on limestone soil and well-drained
and dry soils. Tolerates city conditions.
- Hardy to USDA Zone 3 Found in the wild on the mountains in
Southern Europe, and may deserve the botanical categorization of
variety (i.e., var.). Probably more than one clone in the nursery
trade.
Sources:
- Norman Taylor, Taylor's Encyclopedia of Gardening, 4th
Edition, Houghton Mifflin Co. (Boston, 1961)
- James & Louise Bush-Brown, America's Garden Book, Charles
Scribner's Sons, printed by the Murray Printing Co. (Forge Village,
1965)
- Ornamental Conifers, Hafner Press, a Division of Macmillan
Publishing Co., Inc. (New York, 1975)
- University of Connecticut plant data base -
http://www.canr.uconn.edu/plsci/mbrand/j/junsab/junsab1.html
- Iconotheca botanica (Plant images collection of the Herbarium of
Moscow University), Otto Wilhelm Thomè - Juniperus sabina -
http://www.herba.msu.ru/pictures/Flora_von_Deutchland/pages/d_86.htm
- Liber Herbarum II - http://www.liberherbarum.com/
- Oregon State University Horticulture, Landscape Plants - juniperus
sabina - http://www.orst.edu/dept/ldplants/
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