This MedLibrary.org supplementary page on Juniperus osteosperma is provided directly from the open source Wikipedia as a service to our readers. Please see the note below on authorship of this content, as well as the Wikipedia usage guidelines. To search for other content from our encyclopedia supplement, please use the form below:
Related Sponsors
| Juniperus osteosperma | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 A Utah Juniper showing distinctive shape and leaves
|
||||||||||||||
| Conservation status | ||||||||||||||
| Scientific classification | ||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||
| Binomial name | ||||||||||||||
| Juniperus osteosperma (Torr.) Little |
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 m, on dry soils, often together with Pinus monophylla.
The shoots are fairly thick compared to most junipers, 1.5-2 mm diameter. The leaves are arranged in opposite decussate pairs or whorls of three; the adult leaves are scale-like, 1-2 mm long (to 5 mm on lead shoots) and 1-1.5 mm broad. The juvenile leaves (on young seedlings only) are needle-like, 5-10 mm long. The cones are berry-like, 8-13 mm in diameter, blue-brown with a whitish waxy bloom, and contain a single seed (rarely two); they are mature in about 18 months. The male cones are 2-4 mm long, and shed their pollen in early spring. It is largely monoecious with both sexes on the same plant, but around 10% of plants are dioecious, producing cones of only one sex.
The plants frequently bear numerous galls caused by the Juniper Tip Midge Oligotrophus betheli (Bibionomorpha: Cecidomyiidae); these are conspicuous pale violet-purple, produced in clusters of 5-20 together, each gall 1-2 cm diameter, with dense modified spreading scale-leaves 6-10 mm long and 2-3 mm broad at the base. Seeds are dispersed by Jackrabbits (mostly the Black-tailed Jackrabbit Lepus californicus spp.) rodents and to a lesser extent by coyotes (Canis latrans).
References
- Adams, R. P. (2004). Junipers of the World: The genus Juniperus. Trafford Publishing ISBN 1-4120-4250-X
- Chambers, J. C., S. B. Vander Wall, and E. W. Schupp. (1999). Seed and seedling ecology of piñon and juniper species in the pygmy woodlands of western North America. Botanical Review 65: 1-38.
External links
- Gymnosperm Database: Juniperus osteosperma
- Flora of North America: Juniperus osteosperma
- USDA Plant Profile: Juniperus osteosperma
- Conifer Specialist Group (1998). Juniperus osteosperma. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 12 May 2006.
Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 9 October 2008, at 12:57.
Wikipedia Authorship and Review
Wikipedia content provided here is not reviewed directly by MedLibrary.org. Wikipedia content is authored by an open community of volunteers and is not produced by or in any way affiliated with MedLibrary.org.
Wikipedia Usage Guidelines
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article on "Juniperus osteosperma".
The URL for this specific entry is:
All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details). Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.