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Rocky Moutain Juniper
(Juniperus scopulorum)
Species Distribution
Height:
This tree can grow to a height of 11 meters tall.
Leaf and Bark Type:
The bark of the sapling is usually reddish brown and slightly rough and scaly, but not fibrous. When the tree matures the bark becomes fiberous, stringy and thin. the lower branches contain large amounts of volatile oils. The bark of this tree is very susceptible to death and injury from fire.
Where does it grow and in what conditions:
This juniper is most widely distrubuted in western North America. It grows in a climate that is generally dry and subhumid, but its range of climatic conditions is rather broad, extending from maritime to subalpine to semiarid. The temperure range for this species is from -35° F to 110° F. This species is very drought tollerant, even more than other western juniper species.
Pollinators:
The Rocky Moutain Juniper is pollinated primarily by wind.
Flowers:
It has a dioecious sexual system. The flowers are small and are borne on the end of short branchlets or along the branchlets from mis-April to mi-June. The female flowers are greenish-yellow and the male flowers are yellow.
Fruits:
The female flowers of this juniper are composed of three to eight pointed scales that become fleshy and fuse together for form small indehiscent strobili, that are commonly called berries.
Uses
The early Indians made use of the juniper berries for food and decoration, the bark was woven into cradles and similar products, and it was also used for torches. The most significant use for this juniper, even still today, is for firewood used for cooking and heating.
GPS location
Submitted by Clifton and Yarbrough
Citations:
http://www.na.fs.fed.us/pubs/silvics_manual/Volume_1/juniperus/scopulorum.htm
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