Common Juniper
Juniperus communis
57
Strong
Native to West Virginia. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 100%
- Height
- About 10 feet
- Light
- 4 or more hours of direct sun
- Soil moisture
- Dry to average
Rare or protected plant. Specialist conservation planting; excluded from routine garden suggestions. Plant caution source
Hidden from default planting suggestions. Wildlife value and native status remain unchanged.
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Woody perennial
- Leaves
- Evergreen
- Bloom
- Mid spring
- Fruiting season
- Summer to fall
Not yet recorded · Spread
Recorded in 2 West Virginia counties.
Ecological relationships
Who uses this plant?
26CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including WV
Genus host records with ranges including WV · Juniperus
- Callophrys gryneusJuniper Hairstreak
- Acronicta americanaAmerican Dagger
- Callophrys niphonPine Elfin
- Choristoneura fumiferanaSpruce Budworm Moth
- Crambidia castaPearly-Winged Lichen Moth
- Digrammia continuataCurve-Lined Angle
- Dysstroma truncataMarbled Carpet
- Eacles imperialisImperial Moth, Imperial Spiny Caterpillar
- Elaphria versicolorVariegated Midget
- Eupithecia miserulataCommon Eupithacia, Common Pug
Show all 26
- Glena plumosariaCedar Grey, Dainty Gray
- Hyphantria cuneaFall Webworm
- Lambdina fiscellariaHemlock Looper, Western Oak Looper
- Lithophane lemmeriLemmer's Pinion
- Macaria distribuariaSouthern Chocolate Angle
- Macaria multilineataMany-Lined Angle
- Orgyia leucostigmaWhite-Marked Tussock Moth
- Orthotaenia undulanaDusky Leafroller
- Palthis angulalisDark-Spotted Palthis
- Papilio troilusSpicebush Swallowtail
- Patalene olyzonariaJuniper Geometer
- Periploca nigraJuniper Twig Girder
- Prochoerodes lineolaLarge Maple Spanworm Moth
- Spodoptera ornithogalliYellow-Striped Armyworm Moth, Cotton Cutworm
- Thyridopteryx ephemeraeformisEvergreen Bagworm Moth
- Periploca laeta
0BeesSoutheastern regional records
0Specialist beesPollen specialists
23BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim
Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Juniperus
- Bombycilla cedrorumCedar Waxwing
- Sialia sialisEastern Bluebird
- Turdus migratoriusAmerican Robin
- Cathartes/coragyps spTurkey/Black Vulture
- Catharus guttatusHermit Thrush
- Catharus ustulatusSwainson's Thrush
- Coccothraustes vespertinusEvening Grosbeak
- Cyanocitta stelleriSteller's Jay
- Cyrtonyx montezumaeMontezuma Quail
- Dendragapus obscurusDusky Grouse
Show all 23
- Empidonax alnorum/trailliiAlder/Willow Flycatcher (Traill's Flycatcher)
- Empidonax flaviventrisYellow-bellied Flycatcher
- Falcipennis canadensisSpruce Grouse
- Ixoreus naeviusVaried Thrush
- Loxia leucopteraWhite-winged Crossbill
- Meleagris gallopavoWild Turkey
- Mimus polyglottosNorthern Mockingbird
- Myadestes townsendiTownsend's Solitaire
- Pinicola enucleatorPine Grosbeak
- Sturnus vulgarisEuropean Starling
- Tachycineta bicolorTree Swallow
- Tyrannus tyrannusEastern Kingbird
- Vireo solitariusBlue-headed Vireo
Direct food only: birds recorded eating this genus across North America. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening
No records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects
Growing and identification
Plant details
- Family
- Cupressaceae
- Flower color
- Yellow
- Growth rate
- Slow
- Growth habit
- Single stem
- Foliage color
- Green
- Fruit begins
- Summer
- Fruit ends
- Fall
What its natural habitat tells you
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “Mid spring” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Flower color · “Yellow” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Foliage color · “Green” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Fruit begins · “Summer” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Fruit ends · “Fall” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Growth habit · “Single stem” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Growth rate · “Slow” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Height · “About 10 feet” · USDA PLANTS (ranked first; Minnesota Wildflowers differs) · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Leaf retention · “Evergreen” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Life cycle · “Woody perennial” · Minnesota Wildflowers
Also known as
Ground Juniper
Conservation status
| West Virginia rank | S2 |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G5 |
| WV status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
In your garden
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Sources
- NatureServe Explorer
- USDA PLANTS
- Vascular Plants of North Carolina (NC Natural Heritage Program)
- West Virginia occurrence source
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications