The Junipers

Classic Western Trees

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by Damian Fagan

Western Juniper (Juniperus occidentalis)

Occidentalis means “western” and indicates the range of this species. Western junipers occur in the Great Basin portion of eastern California, northwestern Nevada, eastern Oregon, and portions of eastern Washington and southwestern Idaho. In the Sierras, these junipers often grow at higher elevation, 7,000 to 10,000 feet, and resemble small sequoias. The trees occupy rocky habitats where the other conifers can not gain a roothold.

Long lived, western junipers may easily reach 800 to 1,000 years old. “Bennett Juniper” of Deadman Creek, California is over 85 feet tall and sports a 14-foot diameter. This tree is estimated to be somewhere between 3,000 and 6,000 years old. Longevity is a verb for these trees.

The small scalelike leaves are 1/16 to 1/8 inch long and have a white resinous spot on the leaf’s upper surface. Bearing two to three seeds, the ¼ inch diameter cones take two years to mature. Sometimes western juniper fruits are fed to chickens to produce gin-flavored eggs.

As western junipers mature, the reddish bark becomes thicker and stringier. Similar to other junipers, western junipers do not attain a great height, but may average 40 feet tall. Trunks on older trees average 2 to 4 feet wide, but specimens up to 13 feet in diameter have been recorded.

Utah Juniper (Juniperus utahensis)

The type specimen of this tree was collected in Utah, hence, its common name and species name, utahensis. A very common tree in the Southwest and Great Basin, Utah junipers may cover more acres within these regions than any other tree species. Together with the pinyon pine they are the dominant trees of the pinyon-juniper woodlands or PJ forests of the Southwest. Generally occurring between 3,000 and 8,000 feet in elevation, these trees were widely used by the Ancestral Puebloans and tribes of the Great Basin for firewood, building material and as a food and medicinal source.

Leaves and berries were collected and brewed to make herbal teas to treat colds, headaches, joint pain, stomach aches and other ailments. The berries were eaten more as a last resort. The fibrous bark could become padding for craddleboards, woven into sandals or clothing, plaited into cordage, or substituted for tobacco. Even the hard seed shells discarded by chipmunks or ground squirrels provided a source of beads that were strung together or sewn onto clothing. And junipers provided a source of roof poles or headers for pueblo construction.

The arrangement of the leaves in a circular pattern gives the twigs an impression of resembling coral. Although Utah junipers have various growth forms, they generally grow less than 40 feet tall.

Rocky Mountain Juniper (Juniperus scopulorum)

Growing throughout the Rocky Mountains from New Mexico up through Canada (thus the common name), these junipers mix with Utah juniper where their two ranges overlap. Often found growing at the upper end of the pinyon-juniper belt, Rocky Mountain junipers mix with ponderosa pine, Douglas fir and white fir at higher elevations and more northern latitudes. This species even grows on islands in the Northwest’s Puget Sound.

One Rocky Mountain juniper in northeastern Utah, the “Jardine Juniper” of Logan Canyon, suffers from “age discrepancy.” Locals claim the tree to be twice the reported 1,500 years old. Over six feet in diameter, the tree isn’t telling its age.

The small, overlapping scalelike leaves are borne in two pairs along a stem, thus giving the twigs a square appearance. The leaves lack any resinous dots on their surface and the overall appearance of the foliage is best described as” lacy.”

The smaller berry size is another feature to distinguish the Rocky Mountain juniper from the Utah juniper: 1/8 inch versus 1/4 inch in diameter. Waxwings, American robins and Townsend’s solitaires are three bird species that consume the seeds, then disperse them in their droppings. Passage through the digestive tract probably helps dissolve the seedcoat and influences germination. Tree climbing gray foxes may also consume the seeds, the evidence of their diet being revealed in their scat, as well.

The species name scopulorum refers to the plant's habit of growing in rocky places.

Alligator Juniper (Juniperus deppeana)

Named after their reptilianlike bark, the alligator juniper is also known as the checkered-bark or oakbark juniper. The deeply fissured bark becomes divided into small squares with age.

Growing in oak and pinyon-juniper woodlands in Arizona, New Mexico and Texas and into Mexico, these trees grow at elevations between 4,500 and 8,000 feet. The trees may produce multiple stems from a stump, and a single-trunked specimen might reach 65 feet tall.

Cones of the alligator juniper are 1/2 inch in diameter and are a waxy-gray color. They usually contain four seeds, which mature in their second year.

The species name deppeana honors Ferdinand Deppe (1794-1861), a German naturalist and painter who collected plants in Mexico, California and Hawaii for the Berlin Museum. The tree was first collected in the Zuni Mountains of northwestern New Mexico back in 1851 by Dr. Samuel Washington Woodhouse (1821-1904), the surgeon/naturalist on the Sitgreaves Expedition to the Colorado and Zuni rivers.

Oneseed Juniper (Juniperus monosperma)

Oneseed junipers are mostly that – the cones bear one seed, although sometimes two seeds are present. This species occurs throughout New Mexico and portions of Arizona, Colorado, Texas and Oklahoma. Its similarity with Pinchot juniper in Mexico makes differentiating the two species difficult.

Growing between 3,000 and 6,900 feet in elevation, this juniper has a multi-stemmed growth habit resulting in a dense, rounded appearance. The many-stemmed trunks create a shorter tree; often these trees are less than 20 feet tall. Their grayish-brown bark splits into long strips with age, and they produce bluish or pinkish-purple cones.

During droughts, oneseed junipers may halt their active growing, then resume growing once there is sufficient moisture. A record oneseeded specimen growing in Arizona had a 130-inch circumference and reached 28 feet tall. The species name monosperma means “one seed” and refers to the single seed borne in the cone.

Though it is impressive to see massive examples of these trees, I think it is the partially alive ones, with twisted trunks or polished wood growing out of a slim fracture in the sandstone that makes me appreciate these classic desert trees.

References
Sam Benvie, The Encyclopedia of North American Trees, Firefly Books, Buffalo, New York, 2002.

Ronald M. Lanner, Trees of the Great Basin: A natural history, University of Nevada Press, Reno, Nevada, 1984.

Maggie Stuckey, Western Trees: A field guide, Falcon Press Publishing, Helena, Montana, 1998.

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