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Collecting juniper cones
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Posted by pardak (My Page) on Tue, Jan 26, 10 at 22:13
| Hi all. Near my home I found a large field with many juniper trees, mostly Juniperus virginiana with a few Juniperus communis, and I was going to collect some cones from these trees, with permission of course.
I read somewhere that many junipers are dioecious, and that both male and female trees can have cones. Is this true? If so, should I collect cones only from female trees?
If both sexes of junipers can have cones, how can you tell the difference between a female and a male juniper?
Thanks |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Collecting juniper cones
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| Yes, many junipers are dioecious. I'm not sure about the ones in question but it really doesn't matter because it is easy to tell the cones apart. Male cones are very small, yellowish in color and occur at the tips of the folliage. They look more like swelligs on the ends of the twigs. The female cones are larger (after pollination)about 0.5 in. in diameter and blue-green in color. If a female cone has developed up to full size you can be sure it has been pollinated. |
RE: Collecting juniper cones
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| Juniperus virginiana is invasive in many areas .... google your state and invasive plants to see if it is in your state ... the fact that they naturalized a barren field, should be your first clue good luck ken |
RE: Collecting juniper cones
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Never heard of anyone collecting male cones. Only the female cones will look like the bluish "berries" of cedar.
If you're going to plant them, you are aware that juniper seeds don't always germinate the first year. |
RE: Collecting juniper cones
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| The linked site shows good photos of the male pollen cones and female berry-like cones of Juniperus virginiana if you scroll down a bit. The female cones I see usually have more blue coloring than the ones pictured. Neither the male or female cone looks much like the traditional "pine cone" that people collect. But the small blue berry-like female cones are what will give you seeds....if you decide to try growing them. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Male and female juniper cones
Don't collect these
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| Don't collect any of these you find.They are not cones and contain cedar apple rust fungi...not a "fun guy" to have around apples, etc. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Cedar apple rust stem gall...scroll down
RE: Collecting juniper cones
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| I found the shape of the female juniper cones also on the cones of Chamaecyparis nootkatensis pendula. naturegirl, we have Cedar Apple Rust on a young 'rust resistant' crabapple, but I have never seen any of the galls as shown in your attachment on any of our junipers. |
RE: Collecting juniper cones
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| Thanks everyone for the good information. I guess scotjute summed it up. Basically if the cone is dark blue then it's a ripe female cone. I wasn't sure if male cones looked like female cones but apparently not. Yes growing juniper from seed is going to be a LONG process, since they may take a few months or few years to germinate. I might try growing a few from cuttings but winter might not be the best time to take cuttings. The neightbor has a nice Grey Owl (Juniperus virginiana 'Grey Owl' I think) juniper and he's given permission for me to take a few cuttings. I'll have to read up on this and see what's involved. Thanks everyone |
RE: Collecting juniper cones
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Should you ever get so much into it that you travel elsewhere to collect junipers, just to add that they don't all have dark blue cones, some have orange-red cones, like this Phoenician Juniper (from the Mediterranean; note also the small pollen cones, this species is monoecious):
 Or this Mexican Weeping Juniper:
 And here's Syrian Juniper, which has larger cones than any other juniper:
 Resin |
RE: Collecting juniper cones
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| Thanks Resin! Those are great photos of the cones. Just so I'm clear on this, if I want to grow a Juniperus virginiana 'Grey Owl' for example, then I need to do it via cuttings rather than cones, correct? |
RE: Collecting juniper cones
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| If you want a named cultivar, then yes, by cuttings or grafting. Cultivars don't come true from seed. Resin |
RE: Collecting juniper cones
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The picture of the bluish juniper cones let me remember that those are often added when making Sauerkraut, the tastier kind. I never realized that when eating Sauerkraut and coming across those blue juniper "berries", they actually were "cones".
Bernd |
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