PlantFiles: Common Juniper, Creeping Juniper, Carpet Juniper
Juniperus communis

Also known as Dwarf Juniper & Ground-Cedar, this prostrate evergreen shrub can get up to 10 ft in diameter and up to 3 ft. high and prevents erosion very well.
The bark is red-brown and scaly. The berry-like cones are bluish in color and about 5/16 inch in diameter which grow at the junction of the branchlets and leaves. The cones take 3 seasons to mature and never open because the scales have grown together. Birds and other wildlife eat the cones and they are also used as one of the flavors in making gin.
The needle-shaped, concave, broad & shiney needles have a white band above and a dark band beneath. They are stiff & sharp pointed in whorls of three at about three inches long that grow at right angles to form branchlets.
It occurs in rocky soils from timberline to spruce-fir forests in the range of 7500 to 11,500 ft elevation.
It is native to AK, AL, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DE, GA, IA, ID, IL, IN, KY, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MT, NC, ND, NE, NH, NJ, NM, NV, NY, OH, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, UT, VA, VT, WA, WI, WV & WY in the USA and also to AB, BC, LB, MB, NB, NF, NS, NT, NU, ON, PE, QC, SK & YT in Canada.

Fruits used to flavor gin and and other alcoholic beverages

Juniper berries have been used for cleansing and healing by native Americans for decades. This highly aromatic plant is beneficial for many ailments including kidney, pancreas and liver problems when used internally and for burns, wounds and swellings externally.

It is native to northern parts of Asia, Europe and the United States and has one of the widest distributions of any shrub.