Juniperus spp. / Juniper / P’a∙l (pbal) / Cupressaceae
Our entire life has been spent on the margins. As a child, it was between the ranches and the vast overwhelming cityscape. Today, we find ourselves on the border of desert and mountains. To our west lie the towering firs, pines, and others; to the east, Juniperus delineates the transition from montane to desert, oftentimes alongside it’s friend Pinyon Pine. However, despite what we've characterized above, their preferred habitat can range greatly from gentle slopes, to steep and rocky escarpments to valley bottoms…and even as a staple suburban ornamental.
Juniper’s habit can take a variety of forms: from the magnificent and towering J. grandis, which can reach heights of nearly 30m to the cute (but sharp!) J. communis, which, in many forms, hardly breaks the meter mark. The bark is thin, which peels in strips. Leaves are opposite or whorled, scale-like (or less commonly awl-/needle-like as with J. communis). Pollen cones are typically terminal, with 2-6 pollen sacs per scale. Seed cones are similarly found and are fleshy, berry-like and, depending on the species, can be quite resinous. “Because Juniperus is a gymnosperm and not a flowering plant, it is technically incorrect to call its mature seed cones “berries” or “fruits,” which by definition are the mature ovaries of flowers. The terms, however, have been used for decades in both the popular and the scientific literature and most likely will continue to be employed.” (Burrows 2013) Like some other notable plants in California, such as Oaks, they take 2 years to mature. Seeds range from 1-3 per cone and are often animal-dispersed (Jepson 2025)
by TrashPandaPermies