THE SPECIES. 

 JUNIPERS. 



53 



The junipers are not readily recognized as conifers by those not 

 familiar with the more minute structure of the flower and fruit. The 

 fruit has the appearance of a berry and is commonly so called. In 

 reality, however, the fruit is a cone of a very few scales that have 

 become fleshy and united, their identity being distinguishable only 

 by small points on the surface of the fruit. These fruits are usually 

 globular or oval and contain few seeds. The junipers are sometimes 



Fi<;. 34. Junipers. Loft, Rocky Mountain juniper with immature cones at A ami mature 

 ones at B. Leaves scalelike. Right, dwarf juniper, twig, and fruit; D, seed; C, fruit 

 (cone) in section, showing two seeds. 



dioecious, i. e., the pollen and the seed flowers are borne on separate 

 trees. In either case the flowers are very small and inconspicuous. 

 Some of the junipers mature their fruit in one season, others require 

 two. The wood is fine grained, aromatic, and durable. In its smaller 

 forms it is used for posts, but it is useful otherwise in many ways. A 

 species of wide distribution through the Atlantic region is much 

 used in the manufacture of pencils. 



The Rocky Mountain juniper (Juniperus sCopuLorwrri) is the 

 most common of the Montana species and occurs in many parts of the 

 State east and west of the Divide. It is found scattered with yellow 

 pine along the rim-rock of the Yellowstone and its tributaries, on 

 slopes and crests high up toward the summit of the main range 

 of the Rocky Mountains, and west of the Divide appears commonly 

 in all forested portions of the country, and attains a diameter of 

 nearly 2 feet and a height of 30 feet or more in the better- watered 

 parts of the Flathead Valley. Beyond this State its range extends 

 northward in the Rocky Mountains into Alberta and southward into 



