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.

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.

Origin: Native.

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.