These trees I see

I decided to start identifying the plants along the walk we take to and from school each day. I thought I was being a smarty-pants starting with trees. Okay, we have ponderosas, oaks and junipers. Done. But…

I started taking photos and realized that we have two, no, make that three juniper species along the trail. Following is the identification to the best of my ability. I will ask one of the local botanists to check on this.

Of course we have Ponderosa Pine, Pinus ponderosa, we can see all ages of ponderosa, from black jack to yellowbelly. Check out my previous post to learn more about the beautiful ponderosa (it links to an NPR story).















Gambel Oak, Quercus gambelii, is another common tree in this area. It’s about time for acorns…




















Alligator Juniper, Juniperi deppeana, is the reason I got to thinking of doing this. I think this tree is so cool and so easy to identify- just look at its bark. Talk about a name being descriptive.

























Now here’s the hard part. I had one set of photos and started trying to identify the juniper I saw. I had a few too many questions that couldn’t be answered by the photos: one-seeded or two, drooping branches or not, one trunk or many, light blue berries or purple berries. The photos I had taken were not helpful. So I went back out. I was narrowing down the species to Utah juniper, Juniperus osteosperma, light blue berries, one trunk.































And then I found this tree- multiple trunks from the ground, purple berries- and so I identified it as Oneseed Juniper, Juniperus monosperma.

























So there we have it, three juniper species, one pine and one oak. Let me know if you think these juniper id's are in error. What trees do you see?