# Plant identification? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 17, 2020, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plant-identification/848078 "2020-02-17T16:43:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2020, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plant-identification/848078/1 "2020-02-17T16:43:31Z")
Southern California Blueberries that turn into half pinecone flowers? [![](https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/8894fjgghjlfjfy/IMG_20200215_124345.jpg?dl=0) ](https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/8894fjgghjlfjfy/IMG_20200215_124345.jpg?dl=0) ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2020, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plant-identification/848078/2 "2020-02-17T16:51:53Z")
You don’t want to eat those “blueberries.” It’s a species of _Thuja_ (arborvitae, red cedar), a conifer. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2020, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plant-identification/848078/3 "2020-02-17T17:06:04Z")
There are a number of species of _Thuja_ (some of which have been transferred to other genera like _Platycladus_. One is native to California, _Thuja occidentalis_ (Western Red Cedar, Western Arborvitae, and other names), but neither the leaves nor fruits are right for it. Several species and cultivars of _Thuja_ are popular ornamentals. Where is this tree, in a forest or a city planting? ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2020, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plant-identification/848078/4 "2020-02-17T17:11:02Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > There are a number of species of _Thuja_ (some of which have been transferred to other genera like _Platycladus_. One is native to California, _Thuja occidentalis_ (Western Red Cedar, Western Arborvitae, and other names), but neither the leaves nor fruits are right for it. Several species and cultivars of _Thuja_ are popular ornamentals. Where is this tree, in a forest or a city planting? Desert, out in the brush. Your identification lead me to juniper berries. Those looked more similar in the photos to what I saw than the photos of thuja berries, which seemed to be less round and more mottled in color. You don’t think it’s juniper? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2020, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plant-identification/848078/5 "2020-02-17T17:14:40Z")
Hmm. Actually it could be a [juniper.](https://media.gettyimages.com/photos/rocky-mountain-juniper-with-juniper-berries-juniperus-scopulorum-picture-id139820169) But juniper berries don’t normally open into cones. It could be some kind of gall. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2020, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plant-identification/848078/6 "2020-02-17T17:20:59Z")
Juniper berries are technically cones, with the scales very fleshy and merged together to form a berry-like fruit. If that’s a juniper, it could be some kind of bizarre mutation or infection. Are there many plants with cones like that, or just one? ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2020, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plant-identification/848078/7 "2020-02-17T17:24:30Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Hmm. Actually it could be a [juniper.](https://media.gettyimages.com/photos/rocky-mountain-juniper-with-juniper-berries-juniperus-scopulorum-picture-id139820169) But juniper berries don’t normally open into cones. It could be some kind of gall. The tree had a pile of perfect little blueberries under it. The one cone in the photo was the only non-blueberry on the tree. I found one or two more on the ground. Percentage-wise, cones were vastly outnumbered by berries. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2020, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plant-identification/848078/8 "2020-02-17T17:32:42Z")
California Juniper? [![Imgur](https://live.staticflickr.com/7173/6591672001_c70acda08a_b.jpg "California Juniper (Juniperus californica). Dec 27, 2011. Panoche Hills (BLM)....") ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/21529332@N08/6591672001) ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2020, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plant-identification/848078/9 "2020-02-17T17:46:13Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > California Juniper? > > [California Juniper (Juniperus californica). Dec 27, 2011. … | Flickr](https://www.flickr.com/photos/21529332@N08/6591672001) I think that’s still abnormal. California Juniper is mostly dioecious, that is, having separate sexes in each plant. Female plants have berries, male plants have small pollen-producing cones. A few plants are monoecious, producing both berries and cones. But I think these berry-cones are the result of some kind of developmental abnormality or infection. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2020, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plant-identification/848078/10 "2020-02-17T21:28:22Z")
The stems/foliage look very much like Juniper; the normal berries look like Juniper. I think Colibri is correct - this is Juniper where something has gone wrong with the formation of the berry - it’s interesting; almost like a throwback to what the more-recognisably conelike fruits of Juniper’s ancestors might have looked like