Juniperus scopulorum (Rocky Mountain Juniper) - photos and description
Looking down from steep hillside onto plant on canyon floor.
Leaves scale-like and appressed.
Leaves scale-like and appressed.
Male cones at stem tips in above photo.
Male cones at stem tips in above photo.
Origin: Native.
General: Small tree or shrub having fissured bark.
Flowers: Male cones resemble small catkins, are brown in colour, we measured a male cone at 3 mm long. Female cones resemble blue berries.
Leaves: Leaves are opposite, appressed scales having blunt tips. We measured scales from 1-3 mm long.
Height: Height listed in Budd's Flora to 3 m, we measured the above plant at 4.26 m tall.
Habitat: Dry, rocky, or sandy hillsides, and canyons.
Abundance: Very rare, ranked as an S2 (as of 2021) by the Saskatchewan Conservation Data Centre.
When and where photographed: Took the above photos July 19th, slopes of Frenchman River valley, about 350 km southwest of our home in Regina, SK.