Spectral Juniper
Spectral Juniper (#38AE3D) is a true green with an earthy character. It leans grounded and natural, the kind of color that plays well with wood, clay, linen, and warm neutrals. Its HSL profile (123°, 51%, 45%) places it in the balanced band at a mid lightness. It works across type, buttons, and borders, saturated enough to feel deliberate but balanced enough to not fight the rest of the palette. For a confident two-color system, pair it with its complementary violet. For something softer, pull in its analogous neighbors on either side of the wheel.
Etymology
Latin spectrum, appearance — adjectival suffix -al. As a color modifier, spectral implies a saturated-and-rainbow-decomposed-and-pure quality, the bright color of Newton-prism sunlight-decomposed seven-color spectrum band. Sits at the bright-and-pure end of the grid, parallel to prismatic and pure in usage.
The genus Juniperus, evergreen shrubs and trees whose fleshy berries — actually fleshy cones — flavor gin and Scandinavian sauerkraut. The color refers to the foliage of a mature juniper: a deep, slightly muted green with the matte finish of scale leaves and resinous waxes. Drabber than spruce, warmer than fir, with the alpine association of a plant that can grow at higher elevation than almost any other tree.
Closest matches
The nearest named color in three reference sources, ranked by perceptual distance (ΔE76 in CIELAB). ΔE < 1 is imperceptible to most viewers; ΔE > 10 is clearly different. When two sources point to the same hex they’re merged into one tile; click any to open that color’s page.
Variations
Click any swatch to exploreHarmonies
Accessibility
How this color appears to viewers with the four major color-vision-deficiency types. Computed via the Machado (2009) physiologically-based model. If a tile matches the original, the color reads the same to that viewer.
The color used as foreground text against pure white and pure black, with the contrast ratio and WCAG 2.1 grade. Aim for AA (4.5:1) for body text and AA Large (3:1) for 18 pt+ headlines; AAA (7:1) is the gold standard for long-form reading surfaces.