{{Short description|Species of juniper tree}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2026}} {{Speciesbox | image = Oklubalı anıt agacları.jpg | image_caption = ''J. excelsa'' subsp. ''polycarpos''<ref>1874 illustration from plate 68 of D. Brandis, Illustrations of the Forest Flora of North-West and Central India, 1874</ref> | status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 12 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=Farjon, A. |date=2013 |title=''Juniperus excelsa'' |volume=2013 |article-number=e.T42232A2964786 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T42232A2964786.en |access-date=12 November 2021}}</ref> | parent= Juniperus sect. Sabina | genus = Juniperus | species = excelsa | authority = M.Bieb. | range_map = Juniperus excelsa range.svg | range_map_caption = Distribution of ''Juniperus excelsa'' complex }}
'''''Juniperus excelsa''''', commonly called the '''Greek juniper''', is a juniper found throughout the eastern Mediterranean, from northeastern Greece, Macedonia and southern Bulgaria across Turkey to Syria and Lebanon, Jordan, the Caucasus mountains, and the southern coast of Crimea.
A subspecies, ''J. excelsa'' subsp. ''polycarpos'', known as the '''Persian juniper''', occurs in the Alborz and other mountains of Iran east to northwestern Pakistan, and an isolated population in the Jebal Akhdar mountains of Oman; some botanists treat this as a distinct species, ''Juniperus polycarpos''.<ref>"''Juniperus polycarpos''" . ''The Plant List.'' Accessed 6 December 2020. [http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl1.1/record/kew-2332796]</ref>
==Description== upright|thumb|left|Greek juniper in southern Turkey ''Juniperus excelsa'' is a large shrub or tree reaching {{cvt|6|-|20|m}} tall, rarely {{cvt|25|m|ft}}. It has a trunk up to {{cvt|2|m|ft|frac=2}} in diameter, and a broadly conical to rounded or irregular crown. The leaves are of two forms, juvenile needle-like leaves {{convert|8–10|mm|frac=16}} long on seedlings, and adult scale-leaves 0.6–3 mm long on older plants.
It is largely dioecious with separate male and female plants, but some individual plants produce both sexes. The cones are berry-like, 6–11 mm in diameter, blue-black with a whitish waxy bloom, and contain 3-6 seeds; they are mature in about 18 months. The male cones are 3–4 mm long, and shed their pollen in early spring.
It often occurs together with ''Juniperus foetidissima'', being distinguished from it by its slenderer shoots 0.7–1.3 mm diameter (1.2–2 mm diameter in ''J. foetidissima''), and grey-green, rather than mid green, leaves.
The Algum wood mentioned in the Bible may be from this species, but is not definitely so. {{Clear left}}
==Gallery== <gallery> File:Greek juniper in Tisata Reserve, Bulgaria.jpg|''Juniperus excelsa'' specimen in Tisata reserve in southwestern Bulgaria File:Cliff in Tisata Reserve.jpg|''Juniperus excelsa'' habitat in Tisata reserve </gallery>
==References== {{Reflist}} * Adams, R. P. (2004). ''Junipers of the World: The genus Juniperus''. Victoria: Trafford. {{ISBN|1-4120-4250-X}}. * Farjon, A. (2005). ''Monograph of Cupressaceae and Sciadopitys''. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. {{ISBN|1-84246-068-4}}. * {{Gymnosperm Database|family=Cupressaceae|genus=Juniperus|species=excelsa}} * [http://www.pinetum.org/PhotoMPF/junexc.gif photo of tree in southwest Turkey]
==External links== {{Commons category-inline}} * [http://www.euforgen.org/species/juniperus-excelsa/ ''Juniperus excelsa''] - information, genetic conservation units and related resources. European Forest Genetic Resources Programme (EUFORGEN)
{{Taxonbar|from=Q773892}}
excelsa Category:Flora of Albania Category:Flora of Bulgaria Category:Flora of the Caucasus Category:Flora of the Crimean Peninsula Category:Flora of Cyprus Category:Flora of Greece Category:Flora of Lebanon and Syria Category:Flora of Palestine (region) Category:Flora of Turkey Category:Flora of Yugoslavia Category:Least concern flora of Asia Category:Least concern flora of Europe Category:Dioecious plants Category:Plants described in 1798