One-seed juniper, sabina

Juniperus occidentalis Hooker var. monosperma Engelmann, Trans. Acad. Sci. St. Louis 3: 590. 1878

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.

Dry, rocky soils and slopes; 1000--2300 m; Ariz., Colo., N.Mex., Okla., Tex.

Reports of hybridization with J . pinchotii have been refuted by use of numerous chemical and morphologic characters (R. P. Adams 1975); the two species have nonoverlapping pollination seasons.