Rocky Mountain Red Cedar 



119 



meters with a trunk diameter of 6 dm. ; also called Southern juniper and by many 

 of the names apphed to the northern species. 



The tmnk is similar to that of the Northern red cedar. The branches how- 

 ever, are more slender, ascending and spreading, or the lower ones drooping, 

 forming a broad irregular open head. The bark separates into long, thin shreddy 

 scales of a brownish or grayish 

 color. The twigs are very 

 slender, 4-angled, drooping, 

 becoming, after the leaves 

 fall, reddish brown or gray. 

 The leaves are hght green, 

 opposite, closely appressed, 

 ovate, sharp-pointed, entire 

 on the margin, distinctly glan- 

 dular on the back. The 

 flowers are dioecious, opening 

 in February or March, the 

 staminate 3 to 6 mm. long, 

 composed of about 12 sta- 

 mens. The pistillate flowers 

 are ovoid, 4 to 5 mm. long, 

 composed of a few sharp- 

 pointed scales, which become 

 blunt in fruit. The fruit is 

 nearly globular, about 4 mm. 



Fig. 93. Southern Red Cedar. 



in diameter, dark blue, smooth or shghtly marked by the blunt points of the 

 scales. Seeds i or 2, ovoid, pointed, ridged, 3 mm. long. 



The wood is soft, weak, close-grained, and red; its specific gravity is about 

 0.49. It is fragrant, very straight-grained, and was, until recently, almost exclu- 

 sively used by lead-pencil manufacturers but has now become very expensive. 

 The tree is very generally cultivated in the south for ornament and shade, being 

 one of the most beautiful Junipers and the most extensively planted coniferous 

 tree in the south; doubtless many of the garden varieties attributed to the 

 Northern red cedar are forms of this species. 



12. ROCKY MOUNTAIN RED CEDAR Juniperus scopulorum Sargent 



A tree of the Rocky mountain region, from Alberta and British Columbia to 

 western Texas and Arizona, usually at elevations of 1500 meters or more at the 

 south, but descending to sea level at the north. Its maximum height is 12 meters 

 with a trunk diameter of 9 dm. 



The trunk is mostly short, usually divided near the base into several secondar}^ 

 ones. The branches are stout, spreading and ascending, the tree being usually 



