Juniperus osteosperma


Juniperus osteosperma is a shrub or small tree reaching 3–6 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, on dry soils, often together with Pinus monophylla.
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 and broad. The juvenile leaves are needle-like, 5–10 mm long. The cones are berry-like, in diameter, blue-brown with a whitish waxy bloom, and contain a single seed ; they mature in about 18 months and are eaten by birds and small mammals. The male cones are long, and shed their pollen in early spring. It is largely dioecious with both sexes on the same plant, but around 10% of plants are monoecious, producing cones of only one sex.
The plants frequently bear numerous galls caused by the Juniper Tip Midge Oligotrophus betheli ; these are conspicuous pale violet-purple, produced in clusters of 5–20 together, each gall diameter, with dense modified spreading scale-leaves long and broad at the base.
Seeds are dispersed by a variety of mammals and birds. Mammals include jackrabbits rodents and to a lesser extent by coyotes. Most notable among the birds that disperse juniper berries is the Townsend's Solitaire.
Native Americans such as the Havasupai used the bark for a variety of purposes, including beds, and ate the cones both fresh and in cakes. The Havasupai used the gum to make a protective covering over wounds. Additionally, the Yavapai gave their women a tea made from the leaves to calm their contractions after giving birth, and fumigated them with smoke from the leaves placed over hot coals. The Navajo sweep their tracks with boughs from the trees so death will not follow them.