Juniperus Species, California Juniper

We live on 2 1/2 acres in the High Desert area of southern California and have been blessed with 81 very large California Juniper trees. ...Read MoreNormally California Junipers don't need watering. However, during the past decade, the drought has taken a toll on our trees. I was alarmed to find that many branches have died off. I now water all of our California Junipers. It is important to know that these trees are able to absorb water through their leaves so spraying their foliage provides them with much-needed moisture (as well as soaking the ground). I have also been trimming off all the dead branches and those that are too long or tall. Unlike other junipers, the California Juniper doesn't have a dead zone. Watering the interior areas of the branches results in the sprouting of beautiful new green leaves. I absolutely love these trees. They smell wonderful and look amazing after just a few months of being properly cared for. Considering that they are probably hundreds of years old and irreplaceable, it would be a shame to lose these lovely native trees.

Per Jan Emming owner of the Destination:Forever Ranch and Gardens, a 40 acre desert botanical garden and sustainable living homestead in ...Read Morethe Arizona desert with a nursery:
Commentary on my photos:
Photo 1: This is a very young, four-inch-tall California juniper tree (Juniperus californica) that has germinated against the base of a Ferocactus rectispinus that I planted in my garden in 2010. It is several years old despite its small size. Seedling junipers are very rare in the lower deserts and seldom get a chance to germinate and survive to maturity. I will allow this juniper to survive tucked up against the base of the cactus, and someday, when it gets a bit too big, I will transplant the cactus since it will survive that far more easily than the fragile, nonsucculent juniper tree would. I suspect that these ancient junipers are amongst the oldest plants on my property, with many of them being 400 to 500 years of age in spite of their small stature. This is a harsh environment for a coniferous tree to survive in, and I admire their tenacity.

Photo 2: This image of California junipers (Juniperus californica) shows both a male and a female tree side-by-side near my driveway and a storage shed. The green female tree is to the left, and the abundant pollen-bearing cones lend a reddish-brown tint to the male tree on the right.

Photo 3: Here is a shot of some male California juniper cones, which bear the pollen that fertilizes the female cones in the prior picture. In this species there are male and female trees, with each species bearing only one sex of cone, which is termed monoecious; many other coniferous trees bear both types of cones upon the same tree, a condition we call dioecious. Most conifers have separate male and female cones, if not always upon separate sex plants, but many angiosperms (which are the majority of the plants we think of as "flowering plants") have both male and female parts combined into the same flower. However some angiosperms also have separate male and female flowers on dioeceous plants, and others are monoecious as well. There are a number of permutations of reproductive strategy in the plant kingdom.

Photo 4: Here's a photo a branch just before I hit it to release the pollen from the small, brown male cones that crowd the branch tips.

Photo 5: A gentle batting of a male California juniper tree (Juniperus californica) loaded with fertile male cones results in the release of a dense cloud of pollen. This species is dioecious, which means that there are separate male and female trees.

Photo 6: This large quantity of pollen is temporary, not lasting for much more than a week or two. But it coats my vehicles parked nearby and for some people it might create allergies. The pollen rapidly disperses into the breeze, and some of it will land on the receptive female cones of nearby trees. Within a few weeks, the fertilized female flowers will start developing into the bluish-tinted cones we call "berries".

Photo 7 A close-up view of some male pollen-bearing cones of a California juniper tree (Juniperus californica). The pollen originates from between the small overlapping scales of the tiny cones. Despite their minuscule size, their sheer numbers produce a large amount of dusty yellowish pollen which can be seen coating my hand.

Photo 8: Male cones are shed very soon after they release pollen to the wind. Within a few weeks almost all of these cones will have senesced, dried out, and dropped off of the tree. Again note the yellowish pollen coating my hand.

Photo 9: This is a close-up of a female California juniper (Juniperus californica) with very inconspicuous flowers at the tips of some of the branches. In fact, without the males releasing clouds of pollen with every puff of wind, you wouldn't even notice that the trees are all in mass bloom, especially since it's mid-winter and nothing else is flowering at this time. The inconspicuous nature of wind-pollinated tree flowers illustrates a principle of pollination biology, which is that you do not need to be pretty if you are being serviced by an inanimate force such as the wind. Instead of investing in pretty colors, strong scents, sweet nectar, and elaborate shapes to attracts various animals that would respond to such cues, if your vector is the wind all you need to do is produce a LOT of pollen and simple flowers to receive randomly wind-deposited grains. Very few wind-pollinated trees are in any way showy while blooming. This includes most coniferous trees, and many well-known temperate broadleaf species such as oaks, willows, ashes, maples, aspens, and many more. Many of these trees bloom in late winter or early spring in their native habitats because the cool temperatures preserve pollen longevity, and leafless branches facilitate pollen dispersal on the air currents. Plus seeds and cones are best developed in warmer weather, so the trees are all set to go by the time spring and summer growth arrives. It's a beautiful and intelligent system, is it not?

Photo 10: This photo of developing California juniper berries shows three different phases of the female cones in March 2015. The mature berries from the 2014 season are the large pale blue-white spheres, of which there are 4. They are actually fleshy cones, not true berries. The numerous small slightly pointy pale purplish structures are female cones from this year, fertilized by windborne pollen in January 2015 and therefore about 2 months old now. You can see hints of the points remaining on the mature berries as they swelled outwards. And finally, the medium-sized tan sphere in the middle appears to be a berry that was parasitized by a gall insect of some sort, and which did not develop normally. I do not know whether this is caused by a tiny wasp, fly, midge, or aphid of some sort, but the small larva inside has irritated the plant's cells and formed a sort of tumor around a central cavity that the larva inhabits and feeds upon. Eventually adult insects will emerge from the gall to reproduce and find a new berry to lay eggs upon.

Photo 11: A few remnant "berries" cling to a female California juniper tree (Juniperus californica) from last year. While these fruits are commonly called berries, botanically they are cones with fused fleshy scales, characteristic of the cypress family (Cupressaceae), of which junipers are a member. True berries are an anatomically different structure found in angiosperms, although for common purposes of discussion it's sufficient to call these juniper berries.:

Wonderful heat and cold tolerant California native. This plant has a wonderful aromatic scent that to me is a little more citrus-like tha...Read Moren other junipers. This is a must have for any true 'California native' gardens. However, this plant can be hard to obtain other than collecting from the wild. Rarely seen in nurseries. This plant is one of the most highly prized 'American' bonsai because of its vigor and acclimation to many climates as well as the twisted old deadwood that forms from many years of growing in the harsh conditions of the Mojave desert. This tree can live over 1,000 years in the wild.

Not all that excited about this plant- way too common in So Cal and a real mess to take care of- very dirty plant, and sappy. But if pru...Read Morened expertly, can make a nice garden specimen. Also does fantastically as a bonsai. Very drought tolerant (but easy to kill from lack of water when a bonsai so don't be too stingy with the watering).