Juniperus monosperma
One-seed juniper, cherrystone juniper, New Mexico cedar (Peattie 1950), sabina (Adams 1993).
Syn: J. gymnocarpa, Sabina monosperma (Silba 1986), Juniperus occidentalis var. monosperma Engelmann 1878 (Adams 1993).
Reports of hybridization with J. pinchotii have been refuted (Adams 1993). However, hybridization with J. scopulorum has been documented in the Guadalupe Mountains of New Mexico, which is quite surprising as these two taxa are as distant from each other as they could be within Section Sabina. The hybrids have J. monosperma chloroplasts, i.e. the pollen donor was J. monosperma, which otherwise is not known to occur within 5 km of the hybrid trees; and the nuclear DNA shows full heterzygosity at 18 loci shared by the two species, demonstrating a hybrid origin. The hybrids closely resemble J. scopulorum (Adams et al. 2020).
"Shrubs or trees dioecious, to 7(12) m, usually branching near base; crown rounded to flattened-globose. Bark gray to brown, exfoliating in thin strips, that of small branchlets (5-10 mm diam.) smooth, that of larger branchlets exfoliating in either flakes or in strips. Branches ascending to erect; branchlets erect, 4-6-sided, ca. 2/3 as wide as length of scalelike leaves. Leaves green to dark green, abaxial glands elongate, fewer than 1/5 of glands (on whip leaves) with an evident white crystalline exudate, margins denticulate (at 20×); whip leaves 4-6 mm, glaucous adaxially; scalelike leaves 1-3 mm, not overlapping, or if so, by less than 1/4 their length, keeled, apex acute to acuminate, spreading. Seed cones maturing in 1 year, of 1 size, with straight peduncles, globose to ovoid, 6-8 mm, reddish blue to brownish blue, glaucous, fleshy and resinous, with 1(-3) seeds. Seeds 4-5 mm" (Adams 1993).
USA: Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas at 1000-2300 m elevation on dry, rocky soils and slopes (Adams 1993). Other sources (Peattie 1950, Silba 1986) constrain the Texas range to the Panhandle, Big Bend and Edwards Plateau areas, and recognize an extension into Mexico (N Sonora and Chihuahua). See also Thompson et al. 1999. Hardy to Zone 4 (cold hardiness limit between -34.3°C and -28.9°C) (Bannister and Neuner 2001).
Distribution of the primary serrate-leaf-margin Juniperus taxa of western North America; J. monosperma shown in orange. Click on any marker for more information and a link to the source.
American Forests (1996) cited the largest tree as one in the Jicarilla Mountains of New Mexico with diameter 136 cm, height 9 m, crown spread 9 m.
Adams, Robert P. 1993. Juniperus. Flora of North America Editorial Committee (eds.): Flora of North America North of Mexico, Vol. 2. Oxford University Press. This document is available online. Go to http://www.efloras.org, click on "Flora of North America," and search for "Juniperus."
Adams, R. P., S. T. Johnson, R. D. Worthington, and G. M. Ferguson. 2020. Hybridization between serrate leaf Juniperus monosperma and smooth leaf J. scopulorum in the Guadalupe Mountains, NM, USA: evidence from DNA sequencing and leaf essential oils. Phytologia 102(3):131–142.
American Forests 1996. The 1996-1997 National Register of Big Trees. Washington, DC: American Forests.
Sargent, C. S. 1896. The Silva of North America, V. 10 (p. 89).
Farjon (2005) provides a detailed account, with illustrations.
R.P. Adams' web site, juniperus.org.
Last Modified 2023-08-06
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