Botanical Nerd Word: Holarctic

Holarctic: A geographic distribution all around the northern hemisphere in the arctic, boreal, or north temperate climatic zones, or all three; it need not be completely continuous, just have representation in at least the eastern and western ends of both Eurasia and North America.*

Common juniper, Juniperus communis, has a holarctic distribution as seen in the image above. In fact, it has the largest geographical distribution of any conifer in the world.

*Eckenwalder, J.E. (2009). Conifers of the world: the complete reference. Portland: Timber Press.

Image from Wikimedia Commons