CYPRESS AND JUNIPER TREES OF ROCKY MOUNTAIN REGION. 29 



often has a whitish tinge. The sharp-pointed, scalelike leaves occur 

 in twos and threes, closely overlapping each other, and usually 

 marked on the back with a pit, which often contains a rather con- 

 spicuous resin spot. The leaves of vigorous leading shoots have 

 slightly spreading, somewhat slender points and long (decurrent) 

 bases. The margins of the leaves are provided with irregular, minute 

 teeth. 



Male and female flowers are borne on separate trees. The fruit 

 of Juniperus megalocarpa matures at the end of the second season. 

 It is spherical or slightly elongated in shape and of exceptionally 

 large size, varying from about nine-sixteenths to eleven-sixteenths 

 of an inch in diameter or length (PL XVII) . The surface of the berries 

 is roughened only by the united female flower scales and their rather 

 tough skin is reddish-brown and coated with whitish bloom. The 

 sweet flesh of the berries is thick, dry, and firm, and in old and 

 fully matured berries scarcely resinous, though from the presence of 

 old resin cells in the pulp it is evident that immature or newly ripened 

 fruit has a distinct resinous flavor. The berries usually contain but 

 one glossy, chestnut-brown seed — rarely two — marked at the base by 

 a conspicuous 2-lobed scar (hilum), which has distinct short pits or 

 shallow grooves. The top end of the seed is usually abruptly flattened 

 on its two broad sides so as to form a chisellike edge (PL XVII a, b, 

 view of opposite sides). The seeds readily fall out of the dry pulp 

 when the latter is cut or broken open. The number of seed-leaves 

 is unknown. 



Juniperus megalocarpa resembles J. utahensis in its large one- 

 seeded fruit and also in the general appearance of its foliage. The 

 much longer vertical creases and furrows and the pointed top of the 

 seeds of J. utahensis distinguish this species from J. megalocarpa. 



The wood of big-berried jumper has not been collected, but it is 

 known to have a rather strong, cedarlike odor and to be yellowish- 

 brown in color. Scarcity of post material and fuel in the region 

 where this juniper grows should make it valuable for these purposes. 



OCCURRENCE AND HABITS. 



The trees found on the Datil National Forest were scattered singly 

 and in small, open groups on deep washed, rather rich, sandy loam 

 or gravelly soils of benches and terraces, from 50 to 150 feet above the 

 bed of the San Francisco River, where the elevation is about 5,400 

 feet. Interspersed with them were pifion, one-seed juniper, and 

 Emory oak, while mountain red cedar, Arizona oak, and blue oak 

 occur in the same general region. 



Big-berried juniper appears to be similar in its requirements of 

 light and reproductive capacity to Utah juniper. No seedlings were 

 found in the vicinity of the fruiting trees, which produce an abun- 



