Plantae > Tracheophyta > Pinopsida > Pinales > Cupressaceae > Juniperus > Juniperus osteosperma

Juniperus osteosperma (Bigberry Juniper; Utah juniper; Desert juniper)

Synonyms:
Language: Fre; Spa

Wikipedia Abstract

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 metres (4,300–8,500 ft), on dry soils, often together with Pinus monophylla.
View Wikipedia Record: Juniperus osteosperma

Attributes

Bloom Period [1]  Early Spring
Drought Tolerance [1]  High
Edible [2]  May be edible. See the Plants For A Future link below for details.
Fire Tolerance [1]  Low
Flower Type [2]  Dioecious
Frost Free Days [1]  4 months 20 days
Fruit/Seed Abundance [1]  High
Fruit/Seed Begin [1]  Summer
Fruit/Seed End [1]  Fall
Growth Form [1]  Single Stem
Growth Period [1]  Spring, Summer
Growth Rate [1]  Slow
Leaf Type [2]  Evergreen
Lifespan [1]  Perennial
Pollinators [2]  Wind
Propagation [1]  Bare Root, Container, Seed
Root Depth [1]  20 inches (51 cm)
Seed Spread Rate [1]  Slow
Seed Vigor [1]  Low
Seeds Per [1]  5217 / lb (11502 / kg)
Shape/Orientation [1]  Erect
Specific Gravity [3]  0.72
Structure [2]  Tree
Usage [2]  A wax on the fruit is obtained by simmering the fruit in hot water and skimming off the wax as it rises to the surface. The wax can be used to make aromatic candles; The bark is employed as a tinder and is also made into a slow match; The crushed bark was twisted into a rope, tied at intervals with yucca (Yucca species), and wrapped into a coil. The free end was set on fire and kept smouldering by blowing on it at intervals. Fire could be carried in this fashion for several hours; The bark has been used as a thatching on the roofs of buildings; The dried seeds have been used as beads or as the 'rattle' in rattles; An infusion of the plant has been used as a hair wash; The plant has been burnt as an incense and fumigant in the home; Wood - soft, close-grained, slightly fragrant; It is used occasionally for fuel, fencing etc;
Vegetative Spread Rate [1]  None
Flower Color [1]  Yellow
Foliage Color [1]  Green
Fruit Color [1]  Blue
Fruit Conspicuous [1]  Yes
Height [2]  39 feet (12 m)
Hardiness Zone Minimum [1]  USDA Zone: 4 Low Temperature: -30 F° (-34.4 C°) → -20 F° (-28.9 C°)
Light Preference [1]  Full Sun
Soil Acidity [1]  Neutral
Soil Fertility [1]  Infertile
Water Use [1]  Low
Screening - Summer [1]  Dense
Screening - Winter [1]  Dense
View Plants For A Future Record : Juniperus osteosperma

Protected Areas

Predators

Range Map

External References

USDA Plant Profile

NatureServe Explorer

Citations

Attributes / relations provided by
♦ 1USDA Plants Database, U. S. Department of Agriculture
♦ 2Plants For A Future licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
♦ 3Forest Inventory and Analysis DB version 5.1, May 4, 2013, U.S. Forest Service
♦ 4Neotoma lepida, B. J. Verts and Leslie N. Carraway, MAMMALIAN SPECIES No. 699, pp. 1–12 (2002)
♦ 5Ben-Dov, Y., Miller, D.R. & Gibson, G.A.P. ScaleNet 4 November 2009
♦ 6HOSTS - a Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants Gaden S. Robinson, Phillip R. Ackery, Ian J. Kitching, George W. Beccaloni AND Luis M. Hernández
♦ 7Neotoma cinerea, Felisa A. Smith, MAMMALIAN SPECIES No. 564, pp. 1-8 (1997)
♦ 8Neotoma stephensi, Clyde Jones and Nancy J. Hildreth, MAMMALIAN SPECIES No. 328, pp. 1-3 (1989)
♦ 9Food Habits of Rodents Inhabiting Arid and Semi-arid Ecosystems of Central New Mexico, ANDREW G. HOPE AND ROBERT R. PARMENTER, Special Publication of the Museum of Southwestern Biology, NUMBER 9, pp. 1–75 (2007)
♦ 10Tamias umbrinus (Rodentia: Sciuridae), JANET K. BRAUN, AUBREY A. JOHNSON, AND MICHAEL A. MARES, MAMMALIAN SPECIES 43(889):216–227 (2011)
Abstract provided by DBpedia licensed under a Creative Commons License
Species taxanomy provided by GBIF Secretariat (2022). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2023-06-13; License: CC BY 4.0