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Rocky Mountain juniper

Juniperus scopulorum

Summary 3

Juniperus scopulorum (Rocky Mountain juniper) 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 metres (1,600–8,900 ft) on dry soils, often together with other juniper species. "Scopulorum" means "of the mountains.

Summary 4

Juniperus scopulorum, the Rocky Mountain juniper, 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. This evergreen conifer grows at altitudes of 500–2,700 metres (1,600–8,900 ft) on dry soils, often together with other juniper species. Scopulorum means "of the mountains".

Description 4

It is a small tree reaching 5-15 m (rarely to 20 m) tall, with a trunk up to 1 m (rarely 2 m) diameter. The shoots are slender, 0.7–1.2 millimetres (0.028–0.047 in) diameter. The leaves are arranged in opposite decussate pairs, or occasionally in whorls of three; the adult leaves are scale-like, 1–3 mm long (to 5 mm on lead shoots) and 1–1.5 millimetres (0.039–0.059 in) broad. The juvenile leaves (on young seedlings only) are needle-like, 5–10 mm long. The seed cones are berry-like, globose to bilobed, 6–9 millimetres (0.24–0.35 in) in diameter, dark blue with a pale blue-white waxy bloom, and contain two seeds (rarely one or three); they are mature in about 18 months and are eaten by wildlife. The pollen cones are 2–4 millimetres (0.079–0.157 in) long, and shed their pollen in early spring. It is dioecious, producing cones of only one sex on each tree.

Uses 4

Some Plateau Indian tribes boiled an infusion from the leaves and inner bark to treat coughs and fevers. The cones were also sometimes boiled into a drink used as a laxative and to treat colds.

Among many Native American cultures, the smoke of the burning cedar is used to drive away evil spirits prior to conducting a ceremony, such as a healing ceremony.

A small quantity of ripe berries can be eaten as an emergency food or as a sage-like seasoning for meat. The dried berries can be roasted and ground into a coffee substitute.

The cultivar 'Skyrocket' is a very popular ornamental plant in gardens, grown for its very slender, strictly erect growth habit. Due to its disposition for a fungal disease, namely cedar apple rust, caused by Gymnosporangium juniperi-virginianae, 'Skyrocket' is more and more replaced by the new cultivar J. virginiana 'Blue Arrow'. 'Bue Arrow' is a recipient of the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. Several other cultivars are also grown to a lesser extent.

It is also a popular collected tree for bonsai in the US.

Sources and Credits

  1. (c) pasa47, some rights reserved (CC BY), https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a6/Juniperus_scopulorum_Garden_of_the_Gods.jpg
  2. no rights reserved, uploaded by Kent McFarland
  3. Adapted by Desmon M Dunn from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juniperus_scopulorum
  4. (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juniperus_scopulorum

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