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Utah Juniper (Juniperus osteosperma)

[ Trees > Conifers > Cedars & Junipers . . . ]      Forest Type: Pinyon-juniper, Sonoran

Range

Scraggly desert juniper found in the west and southwest; stature spreading and open; berries bluish-coated, with roughened ends; bark shreddy and grayish.

by Michael Kuo

Habitat: Usually in more or less pure stands, sometimes mixed with pinyon pine; in deserts from 5000–8000 feet.

Stature: 15–25 feet high; up to 2 feet in diameter; spreading and irregular, with an open, rounded crown.

Needles: Scale-like and tightly pressed to branchlets; yellowish green.

Bark: Thin; in strips that begin to peel away; grayish brown.

Fruit: Berry-like; under 3/4 inch in diameter; reddish brown underneath a bluish-white coating; tips roughened with fairly prominent ridges and marks.

Utah juniper is frequently beset with insect galls that look almost like leafy cones (see illustration), as well as drooping yellow clusters of juniper mistletoe.


(References consulted)


Frequently Associated Mushrooms:

Antrodia juniperina, Pyrofomes juniperinus, and others.

 

Juniperus osteosperma

Juniperus osteosperma

Juniperus osteosperma

Juniperus osteosperma

Juniperus osteosperma

Juniperus osteosperma
Insect galls (see comment, left)



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Cite this page as:

Kuo, M. (2019, September). Utah Juniper (Juniperus osteosperma). Retrieved from the MushroomExpert.Com Web site: http://www.mushroomexpert.com/trees/juniperus_osteosperma.html