Prostrate, mat-forming shrub. Branches dense and thick with the tips upturned. Leaves all needle-like in 3's but soft, c. 12-17 mm long, pointing forwards, pale waxy-green, tapering to a softish point, grooved and with a single white band above, articulate at the stem with base extending downwards. Fruit about 8-12 mm wide, eventually black and with a waxy white bloom. Seeds 2- 3.
Grows naturally on sandy seashores.
Japan.
Prostrate shrub with the branches upturned at the tips; leaves grooved above and with a single white band, only slightly prickly; cf. J. taxifolia var. lutchuensis. Grown mostly as the cultivar below.
Source: (1995). Cupressaceae. In: . Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 1, Ferns, conifers & their allies. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.
Juniperus conferta 'Blue Pacific'
Trailing variant with blue-green foliage. Origin unknown but listed for Monrovia Nsy, USA in 1975.
Juniperus conferta 'Emerald Sea'
Prostrate, spreading, foliage emerald green, paling in winter. Salt tolerant. Collected J.L. Creech as cuttings, Honshu 1957, distributed by US National Arboretum, Washington DC, 1977.