86 THE PLANT WORLD. 



TWO JUNIPERS OF THE SOUTHWEST. 

 By J. C. Blumer. 



The following notes are from the Cameron Creek basin, lying on 

 the southern slope of the Pinos Altos Mountains of New Mexico. 

 This region lies only forty miles north of the Gadsden Purchase 

 and seventy-five miles from the Mexican boundary. The sun- 

 bathed peaks of the Mexican plateau are daily seen to rise like 

 hazy pyramids out of the' desert of Egypt. The tract, last summer 

 added to the Gila River Forest Reserve, is tributary to the U. S. 

 military hospital at Fort Bayard, and has an altitude of 6,000 to 

 7,500 feet. Here the writer spent the latter half of 1905, in the 

 interest of the U. S. Forest Service. 



This far southwestern world offers many interesting things to 

 the student of plants. Among these are two junipers, which con- 

 stitute a large part of the typically evergreen woods, very open 

 and orchard-like. The other species comprise four oaks, two 

 pines, mountain mahogany and garrya. a relative of the dogwood. 

 Several other woody species are limited mainly to water-courses. 



The one-seed juniper {Junipcnis monos[^cnna) is a tree not 

 often above apple tree size, though it sometimes reaches a diam- 

 eter of thirty inches and a height of not over twenty-five feet. The 

 whitish bark, becoming one inch thick, peels off in long shreds. 

 The berries of the pistillate tree, ripening early in autumn, are 

 dark blue, sweet and juicy, of oval shape and about half the size 

 of the berry of Jiniipcnis scoptilonnn. They contain a single, 

 bony, ovate-conical seed about the size of a grape seed. The crop 

 this season was so scarce that not over five bearing trees were 

 found. Birds are probably the chief agents of distribution. 

 While gathering the seed, certain sparrow-like members of the 

 feathered tribe once or twice hovered within arm's length of the 

 picker, in an effort to save their proper share. Its densely clus- 

 tered leaves of rusty green closely protect the very short branchlets 

 from the thirsty semi-desert air. Usually half the grotescjue form 

 of the older trees has been stripped by time and environment of 

 both leaves and bark. But it clings to life with great tenacity. 

 It is the patriarch of the foothills. 



