365 Urban species. #355: Rocky Mountain Juniper

Photos by urbpan. Location: Brookline Ave, Brookline.

Urban species #355: Rocky Mountain juniper Juniperus scopulorum

It took me some time and concentration to think of coniferous shrubs as real urban species. But once I became aware of them, I was surprised by their pervasiveness. They are most often used as living fences or screens, erected like plywood to shield the view of a wall or a building. They almost seem more like furniture than actual living things. Rocky Mountain juniper, specifically the "Wichita blue" cultivar, is widespread in Boston. Its bluish foliage, reminiscent of Colorado (blue) spruce, is distinctive and interesting. In its wild state, Rocky Mountain juniper can be a small tree or large shrub, more rounded than this engineered variety. Like other junipers its fruit (Now, you know that I really mean cone, right? Go look at the entry and comments for ginkgo if you don't remember why.) is an important winter food source for fruit eating birds, like robins, mockingbirds, and especially cedar waxwings. Native Americans apparently sometimes ate juniper cones, but their insect-repelling properties are fairly repellant to mammals, too. Diluted it can have a pleasant taste, and European juniper cones have lent flavor to gin for centuries. Though resistant to most insects, Rocky Mountain juniper is susceptible to cedar-apple rust, and quince rust.