Little brown ends???

[Haines' Trees]

Hey all!
So I’ve got a number of junipers that I’ve started on this spring. But on a couple of them I’ve noticed these little brown ends in a few areas.

There are other parts of the tree that have healthy looking buds, but these brown things are definitely in more than a few places. I took a couple off by pinching them back, like you would if you were finger pruning, and they’re firm but have green on the inside when cut open. Any clues?

 

[NOZZLE HEAD]

Those look like the starts of where the berries would be.

 

[Haines' Trees]

Really? I would’ve figured this tree would be much too young to produce berries.

 

[NOZZLE HEAD]

Is it a cutting? Cuttings retain the level of maturity from the tissue where they were collected.

 

[Haines' Trees]

That’s a good point. I bought it from a shop it was advertised as 3-5 years old in the pot. I imagine most places don’t bother with seed and grow from cuttings.

 

[Haines' Trees]

So if I’m trying to grow this tree out I should prune off the tips that are trying to grow berries?

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

I would let them grow for a while. Just to see what those things are.

They could be emerging buds, could be flowers or pollen cones (but nana produces those in winter here), could be berries. All I know is that I've never seen these things and I'd like to see what they turn in to.