Juniperus rigida (temple juniper, "Nezumisashi")

Japanese name: ネズミサシ （鼠刺）
Scientific name: Juniperus rigida

[Overview]
An evergreen coniferous shrub or tree growing on sunny, poor soil in hilly areas and on granite rock outcrops.
The trunk is erect, and some reach 10 m in height and 30 cm in diameter.
The bark is grayish brown and peels off lengthwise in thin strips.
The branches arch like a bow, and the branch tips often droop.
The leaves are in whorls of three; they are straight, stiff needles about 1–2.5 cm long, triangular in cross section, with sharply pointed tips that hurt when touched.
The upper surface of the leaf has white stomatal bands in deep grooves.
It is dioecious.
The male flowers are borne in the leaf axils of the previous year's branches, with stamens clustered in an elliptical shape, and the female flowers are egg-shaped, consisting of 3 female scales.
The cone is fleshy and berry-like, spherical, about 1 cm across; it ripens to purplish black with a whitish bloom in autumn of the following year and does not split open even when ripe.
The cone has no developed bracts, only 3 seed scales, and usually contains 3 seeds.

[Uses]
The cones are used medicinally, and the seed oil was used medicinally and for lamps.
The wood is hard and dense, and is used for tokobashira (alcove posts) and carving.

[Cultivation]
Propagate by cuttings.
It prefers sunny, well-drained, poor soil on the dry side, but also grows in ordinary potting soil.
Take care not to overwater; for potted plants and for plants in the ground less than 2 years after planting, water thoroughly when the soil surface dries, and for established plants in the ground, rainfall is sufficient.
Fertilizer is not particularly necessary, but while watching the plant's condition, apply organic fertilizer in winter if needed.
Pests and diseases include pear rust and scale insects.

[Notes]
The Japanese name originates from the practice of placing branches with sharp leaves along the paths of rats to keep them out.
Pear rust is a serious disease of pears, and because Chinese junipers and their relatives are an intermediate host of pear rust, some local governments restrict the planting of these trees near pear orchards.

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