Drooping Juniper

(Juniperus flaccida)

Color Photographs: © by and courtesy of James Manhart

Drooping Juniper (Juniperus flaccida)

Identifying Characters: The long, slender, drooping (weeping) branches are distinctive for this species. The U.S. distribution of Drooping Juniper is limited to the Chisos Mountains of western Texas, although the species is widespread in Mexico.

Similar Species: None.

Measurements: A small tree or shrub; crown rounded and branches drooping; height of mature individuals up to 30 feet; diameter 1 to 2 feet at breast height.

Female Cones: Cones berry-like, round, red-brown with a whitish bloom, hard and dry; berries 0.4 to 0.5 inches in length; 4 to 12 seeds.

Leaves: Leaves scale-like, opposite, and in 4 rows; branches long, slender, drooping, giving the tree a "weeping" look; scales 1/8 to 1/16 inches long, long pointed at the apex; color yellow-green, usually with a glandular dot.

Bark: Red-brown, broken into long, narrow, fibrous and shredded ridges.

Native Range: Drooping Juniper is widely distributed throughout most of Mexico. It reaches the United States only in the Big Bend region of western Texas.

Habitat: The species occurs on rocky slopes and in mountain canyons associated with pinyon pines, other junipers, and oaks.