Rocky Mountain Juniper

Description:

It is a small tree reaching 1.5-4.5 m tall, with a trunk up to 300 mm diameter. The shoots are slender, 0.7-1.2 mm diameter. The adult leaves are scale-like, 1-2 mm long and 1-1.5 mm broad. The juvenile leaves are needle-like, 5-10 mm long. The seed cones are berry-like, 6-9 mm in diameter, dark blue with a pale blue-white waxy bloom, and contain two seeds; they are mature in about 18 months. The pollen cones are 2-4 mm long, and shed their pollen in early spring.

Habitat:

It is a species of juniper native to western North America, in Canada in British Columbia and southwest Alberta, in the United States from Washington east to North Dakota, south to Arizona and also locally western Texas, and northernmost Mexico from Sonora east to Coahuila. It grows at altitudes of 500-2,700 m on dry soils, often together with other juniper species. "Scopulorum" means "of the mountains.

Notes:

Idaho's Winter Wonders