Juniperus osteosperma

Encyclopedia : J : JU : JUN : Juniperus osteosperma

Juniperus osteosperma (Utah Juniper; syn. J. utahensis) is a shrub or small tree reaching 3-6 m (rarely to 9 m) tall. It is native to the southwestern United States, in Utah, Nevada, Arizona, western New Mexico, western Colorado, Wyoming, southern Montana, southern Idaho and eastern California. It grows at moderate altitudes of 1,300-2,600 m, on dry soils, often together with Pinus monophylla.

Utah Juniper growing in a dry wash, Pah Rah Range, western Nevada

The shoots are fairly thick compared to most junipers, 1.5-2 mm diameter. The leaves are arranged in opposite decussate pairs or whorls of three; the adult leaves are scale-like, 1-2 mm long (to 5 mm on lead shoots) and 1-1.5 mm broad. The juvenile leaves (on young seedlings only) are needle-like, 5-10 mm long. The cones are berry-like, 8-13 mm in diameter, blue-brown with a whitish waxy bloom, and contain a single seed (rarely two); they are mature in about 18 months. The male cones are 2-4 mm long, and shed their pollen in early spring. It is largely monoecious with both sexes on the same plant, but around 10% of plants are dioecious, producing cones of only one sex.

Utah Juniper galls

The plants frequently bear numerous galls caused by the Juniper Tip Midge Oligotrophus betheli (Bibionomorpha: Cecidomyiidae); these are conspicuous pale violet-purple, produced in clusters of 5-20 together, each gall 1-2 cm diameter, with dense modified spreading scale-leaves 6-10 mm long and 2-3 mm broad at the base.

References and external links

Adams, R. P. (2004). Junipers of the World: The genus Juniperus. Trafford Publishing ISBN 1-4120-4250-X
[Gymnosperm Database: Juniperus osteosperma]
[Flora of North America: Juniperus osteosperma]
[USDA Plant Profile: Juniperus osteosperma]
Conifer Specialist Group (1998). [Juniperus osteosperma]. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 12 May 2006.

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.