Al Schneider's Rocky Mountains Plant Descriptions

Rocky Mountain Juniper
Juniperus scopulorum
Cypress family (Cupressaceae)

Rocky Mountain Juniper commonly live to more than 250 years. Juniper seeds are mainly dispersed by birds, such as Bohemian Waxwings, whose digestive passing of the seeds aids germination by removing the fleshy covering. The plant's durable and aromatic wood is commonly used for furniture -- which is almost always called "cedar" furniture. Juniperus scopulorum is almost always , i.e., it has male flowers on one tree, female flowers (and thus the ) on another; Utah Juniper (Juniperus osteosperma) is almost always . At maturity (many centuries to over a millennium) Rocky Mountain Juniper has a single massive straight trunk whereas Utah Juniper has spreading trunks in a very open growth pattern with a majestic appearance. The latter prefers lower altitudes and drier conditions. "Juniperus" is the ancient Latin name for these trees. "Scopulorum" means "of rocky places," i.e., the Rocky Mountains.


©2011 Tony Frates

Description

conical-shaped tree, to 30' tall, with generally shape. Trunks red-brown with thin fibrous bark that shreds with age. Leaves typically , -like, round-tipped to pointed, light green, in 4 flattened rows. Male and female cones on different plants. Seed (female) cones blue-purple, small, spherical -like, often waxy-coated. Male pollen cones solitary at tips of , small and egg-shaped.

Field Marks

shrub or tree with weeping sprays and -like needles.

© Al Schneider

An evergreen tree retains a large portion of its green leaves all year.

scale -- A very small leaf around a dormant bud. Also other things that might remind one of fish scales on the surface of ferns, stems and the like.

branchlet -- a small branch.

fruit -- any seed-bearing structure in flowering plants. It is formed from the ovary after flowering.

In an opposite leaf arrangement the leaves come in pairs with one leaf on each side of a stem.

The botanical term "berry" is different from common usage. Strawberries and raspberries are not berries. But a tomatoe is. A true berry is a fruit with the seeds immersed in the pulp.

dioecious -- When male and female reproductive structures are on separate plants.

In regular flowers all parts of the flower are similar in size and arrangement. Symeteric.

monoecious -- all flowers have both sexes; or both sexes in different flowers on the same plant.