Juniperus drupacea, the Syrian juniper, is a species of juniper native to the eastern Mediterranean region from southern Greece (mount Parnon in the Peloponnese), southern Turkey, western Syria, Lebanon, and northern Israel, growing on rocky sites from 800–1,700 metres (2,600–5,600 feet) in altitude.
[4] Juniperus drupacea is the tallest species of juniper, forming a conical tree 10–25 metres (33–82 feet) tall, exceptionally up to 40 m (130 ft), and with a trunk up to 1–2 m (3+1⁄2–6+1⁄2 ft) thick.
It has needle-like leaves in whorls of three; the leaves are green, 5–25 millimetres (1⁄4–1 in) long and 2–3 mm broad, with a double white stomatal band (split by a green midrib) on the inner surface.
The seed cones are the largest of any juniper, berry-like but hard and dry, green ripening in about 25 months to dark purple-brown with a pale blue waxy coating; they are ovoid to spherical, 20–27 mm (3⁄4–1 in) long and 20–25 mm diameter, and have six or nine fused scales in 2–3 whorls, each scale with a slightly raised apex.
Antoine & Kotschy, but genetic studies have shown it is fairly closely related to J. macrocarpa and J. oxycedrus.