Common Name: coffin juniper
Type: Needled evergreen
Family: Cupressaceae
Native Range: Northern Burma
Zone: 6 to 9
Height: 10.00 to 60.00 feet
Spread: 5.00 to 20.00 feet
Bloom Time: Non-flowering
Bloom Description: Non-flowering
Sun: Full sun
Water: Medium
Maintenance: Low
Leaf: Evergreen
Other: Winter Interest
Tolerate: Deer, Drought, Erosion, Air Pollution
Culture
Easily grown in average, medium moisture soils in full sun. May not be reliably winter hardy throughout the St. Louis area where it should be sited in a protected location.
Noteworthy Characteristics
Juniperus recurva var. coxii, commonly called Himalayan juniper, is an erect single trunk tree or large multi-trunked shrub that features weeping branches that are slightly recurved (curved backward) at the tips. Dark green needle-like foliage (to ½” long). Dark purple berry-like cones (juniper berries to 3/8”). Rusty-brown bark exfoliates. Trees grow to 60’ tall in the Himalayan Mountains, but usually grow shorter in cultivation. Typically adds 12” or more of new growth per year, with a typical 10-year plant being 10-12’ tall. Var. coxii is also sometimes commonly called coffin juniper (wood reportedly was used to make coffins) or Cox’s weeping juniper (in honor of E. H. M. Cox who introduced the plant into cultivation).
Genus name comes from the Latin name for the juniper.
Specific epithet means curved backward.
Problems
No serious insect or disease problems.
Uses
Small (when young) to medium-sized (with age) weeping conifer for the landscape.