Bailey & Bailey: Woody Plants of National Parks 



31 



but is so low that it may be easily overlooked. The herbage is browsed to 

 a certain extent by deer and the fruits furnish winter food for birds and 

 small mammals. 



Occurrence. — glacier, occasional on the east side, 4,500 to 5,500 feet: East Glacier 

 Campground; lower end of St. Mary Lake, covering flats near St. Mary checking sta- 

 tion; near Cut Bank Chalet; side of Bear Hat Mountain above Hidden Creek. ISLE 

 KOYALE, common on rocky exposures: Mott Island. 



2. Common Juniper (Jimipems communis L.). — Common juniper is 

 widely distributed in the northern hemisphere. It differs from other species 

 of juniper in having sharp-pointed awl-shaped leaves spreading from the 

 branchlets instead of the small appressed scale-like leaves. The berries are 

 eaten by birds and small mammals. Common juniper is represented in the 

 national parks by two shrubby varieties. 



Field Guide to the Varieties 



Depressed spreading or prostrate shrubs |/2 to I (or 3) feet high ; leaves Y^i, to % 

 inch long, curved and somewhat appressed; found in the western parks 

 2a. Var. saxalilis. 



Spreading shrub 1 \o 3 Yl f^et high, forming large dense mats; leaves 1/3 to '/2 



inch long, straight or nearly so; found on Isle Royale 2b. Var. depressa. 



2a. Mountain Common Juniper (Var. 

 saxatiUs PalL), fig. 3. — Spreading or pros- 

 trate shrub up to 3 feet high, forming broad 

 clumps often several feet in diameter; leaves 

 I/4 to % inch long, rigid, awl-shaped, sharp- 

 pointed, dark green with a chalky white line, 

 surrounding the stems in circles of 3 and 

 somewhat curved towards the stem; berries 

 dark blue with a bloom. (Syns. Var. monlana 

 Ait., /. sibiricd Burgsd.)-^ 



Occurrence. — OLVMP.C: Mount Claywood, 6,800 

 feel. MOUNT RAINIER, occasional, up to 7,500 feet: 

 Plummer Peak; near Longmire. LASSEN. YOSEMITE, 

 rare, in northern and northeastern part of park, 9,500 

 to 11,500 feet: ridge between Red Peak and Spiller 

 Lake; southeast of Price Peak. GLACIER, common, 

 3,100 to 7,500 feet: Belton ; trail to Mount Brown 

 lookout; Swiftcurrent Peak; Grinnell Point; Mount 

 Altyn; St. Mary Lake; Atlantic Creek trail to 

 Triple Divide Peak; Cut Bank Valley; Two Med- 

 icine Valley. YELLOWSTONE: Sylvan Pass; West 

 Thumb; Lonestar Geyser. GRAND TETON, occasional, 

 6,500 to 8,000 feet: north side of Waterfall Can- 

 yon; east of Eagle Rest; near Moose, east of park boundary, rocky MOUNTAIN. MESA 

 VERDE: Cliff Palace, 6,800 feet; Springhouse, '7,000 feet. BRYCE CANYON, common on 

 the plateau: south of Inspiration Point along Rim Drive; Rainbow Point. ZION : Mirror 



Fig. 3. Mountain common juni- 

 per {Juniperus communis 

 var. saxatilis) 



5 See Rehder, Alfred, Manual of cultivated trees and shrubs hardy in North 

 America, second edition, revised and enlarged, p. 62. 1940. 



