CYPRESS AND JUNIPER TREES OF ROCKY MOUNTAIN REGION. 15 



LONGEVITY. 



Small trees from 2 to 4 inches in diameter, such as occur in this 

 country, are from 25 to 33 years old. Records of trees grown in Nor- 

 way show that one 13 inches in diameter was 114 years old, while 

 another 12 J inches through was 300 years old. Sixteen-inch trees 

 ranged from 130 to 150 years in age, and a 14-inch tree had attained 

 216 years. Dr. Whittmack 1 speaks of a tree of this species, 4 or 5 

 feet in diameter at the base, cut in the parish of Kokenberg, in Livland, 

 Sweden, which had reached the extreme age of 2,000 years. 



WESTERN JUNIPER. 



Juniperus occidentalis Hooker. 



COMMON NAME AND EARLY HISTORY. 



Throughout its natural range this high mountain species is called 

 "juniper," seldom being distinguished from other juniper trees of the 

 same general region. The name " western juniper," adopted here, 

 is coined from the tree's technical name. 



Juniperus occidentalis is only sparingly represented in the Rocky 

 Mountain region, its main range lying in the Pacific States. There 

 appears to be no record of the earliest discovery of this tree, which 

 was probably seen by Lewis and Clark on their expedition to our 

 Northwest in 1804 to 1806, for their route took them through a part 

 of its range. The tree received its present technical name, Juniperus 

 occidentalis Hooker, in 1839. Some of the early writers confused the 

 first specimens collected of mountain red cedar with J. occidentalis, 

 but only three other technical names have been applied to it during 

 the nearly 100 years it has been known to science. 



DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS. 



Western juniper has a round-topped, open crown, extending to 

 within from 4 to 8 feet of the ground, and a short, thick, conical 

 trunk. In the Rocky Mountain region its height varies from 15 to 20 

 feet, or occasionally even to 30 feet. Much taller trees, 60 or more 

 feet high and with diameters sometimes as large as 60 inches, occur 

 in protected situations in the Pacific region. 



The short chunky stem is ridged and grooved, but is usually straight, 

 or, in the most exposed sites, sometimes bent and twisted. The tree 

 develops enormously long and large roots, which enable it to with- 

 stand the fierce winds of high mountains. Huge lower branches 

 often rise like smaller trunks from the base and middle of the stem. 

 Other branches are large and stiff, standing out straight or trending 



i Gartenflora, xxxvi, 139, 1887. 



