Most juniper specimens never get as large as the Bennett juniper, with mature trees being generally 4 to 10 m (13 to 33 ft) high. The tree grows slowly and lives a long time. Old growth stands in Oregon (subspecies
occidentalis) are thought to be 200 to 400 years old, and as shown by the Bennett specimen, the species appears to be capable of living for 2000 years or more in the right conditions.
Fortunately for the species, the western juniper is consider to have little commercial value. It can be made into fence posts and carved into knick-knacks, but overall there is no lumbering pressure on the tree.
Here's an Oregon State University report (.PDF) that tells you everything you need to know about the occidentalis subspecies.
Juniper invasion!
There a serious concern that juniper forests (also called juniper savannah, depending on the density of the trees) are expanding into areas previously dominated by sage brush. These are called "post-settlement" junipers.
One reason for the expansion of the juniper is thought to be the control of wildfires which previously had killed the young juniper. This can have a lot of negative effects, primarily arising from the juniper's ability to suck up all water from the ground, or, when the junipar canopy becomes more complete, block the limited rainfall (12 to 14 inches a year) from reaching the ground, preventing the establishment of soil-holding grasses and undergrowth. Here's a video which describes this issue:
And here's a thoughtful follow up video regarding juniper control which includes simple cutting and planned fires.
And just for fun, here's a video of a song that was a big hit when i was kid, possibly the only one ever written with "juniper" in the title, by Donovan:
Well, that's all for now. What do you think? Please feel free to post anything even remotely botanical you wish.
Pax.
Comments are closed on this story.