Utah Juniper
Juniperus osteosperma
Photographed along a broad wash in the Colorado Desert portion of Joshua Tree National Monument. May 2010. Dead branches, broken main trunk and parasitic mistletoe evidence the tough conditions here.
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TREE: A small to medium sized tree with thin fibrous bark and typically
several trunks.
LEAVES: Leaves are small overlatpping scales usually 3 per node. Resin
gland on leaf is conspicuous.
RANGE: California Juniper occurs in the higher desert areas of
California, Nevada and northwestern Arizona. Thus its occurrance in the Sonoran
Desert is at the boundary of the Mojave Desert.
CONES: Berry-like cones are coated with a bright, blue-gray bloom of wax
when green maturing to brown in color. Up to three seeds in each.
UNARMED. The scale-like leaves can feel a bit prickly though.
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Twigs, leaves and cones of Juniperus californica. Photographed at Joshua Tree National Monument, California.