Juniperus procera Cupressaceae Indigenous Am: Tid Eng: African pencil cedar Or: Gatira, Hindessa Ecology Propagation A valuable timber tree indigenous to Seedlings, wildings — often numerous. Ethiopia and eastern Africa highland forests, 1,500–3,300 m. It does best in Seed high‑rainfall areas but can survive quite dry Mature brown to purplish black fruit conditions once established. It is the largest collected from the crown. Spread fruit in a juniper in the world. It performs well in thin layer on a floor for drying. Then crush Moist and Wet Weyna Dega and Dega the fruit with a mortar and pestle. Sieve and agroclimatic zones. winnow to separate seeds from the rest of the cone. Germination rate 20–70% within Uses 25—80 days. 40,000–50,000 seed per kg. Firewood, timber (floors, roof shingles, Treatment: Not necessary. pencils, joinery), poles, posts, medicine Storage (bark, leaves, twigs, buds), shade, : Seed can be stored in airtight ornamental, windbreak. containers for some time if dried properly. Description An evergreen tree about 40 m with a Management straight trunk, although often fluted. A Fairly fast growing in the open but pyramidal shape when young. The foliage is otherwise slow. Prune and thin trees for finer and more open than cypress. BARK: timber and poles. The tree takes at least 30 Thin grey‑brown, grooved and peeling years to grow to maturity. with age. LEAVES: Prickly, young leaves Remarks to 1 cm, soon replaced by scale‑like mature Does not grow well alongside crops. It leaves, blue‑green, triangular and closely regenerates well and deserves high priority overlapping on the branchlets. FRUIT: in reafforestation. The wood is termite Male cones small and yellow with pollen, resistant. The tree is now rare due to female purple‑blue fleshy “berries” about 8 over‑exploitation. Although belonging to mm, the pulp containing 1‑4 hard seeds. the cypress family, this subgroup has no dry cones like Cupressus. 316 | Useful Trees and Shrubs of Ethiopia Photo: Patrick Maundu The Species | 317.