Juniperus californica Carrière

California juniper
desert white cedar

More info for the term: cover

California juniper provides fair to poor cover for deer and other
similar-sized mammals when vegetation is sparse; the cover value
improves as vegetation becomes more dense [24].

More info for the terms: fruit, xeric

California juniper is a native conifer that is adapted to xeric sites
[35,36]. As a seedling under 12 inches (30cm) in height, it is shade
dependent [24]. Its growth is crooked, forked, and multistemmed [6].
Its branches are stiff with irregular stems [25].

Its scalelike leaves are denticulate at the margins, glandular, pitted
on the back, and bluntly pointed [22,25]. The leaves occur in whorls of
two.

At maturity, California juniper reaches 3 to 15 feet (1-4.5 m),
occassionally reaching 40 feet (12 m) in height [19,25,31].

Each fruit contains one to two seeds, and the ripe berries are reddish
brown [19,25].

More info for the term: tree

California juniper is distributed from Shasta County, California, south
as far as Baja California Norte [6,21]. California juniper occurs
through the inner Coast Ranges and in interior cismontane southern
California to the western slope of the southern Sierra Nevada. It
occurs on desert slopes from the western edge of the Colorado Desert and
Joshua Tree National Monument to Kern County, California [25].
California juniper also occurs in isolated parts of Nevada and Arizona,
near their border with California [7]. It is cultivated in Hawaii [41].

More info for the terms: fire regime, fire-sensitive species, frequency, seed

California juniper is a nonsprouting, fire-sensitive species [15]. It
may depend on protected areas to survive fires. Unburned "islands" of
California juniper were observed on a lightly burned slope [34].
Frequency of fire in grasslands prevents California juniper from
becoming a dominant species in those areas. Several years are required
for nonsprouting species to set seed [39]. In the pinyon-juniper type,
fires are infrequent due to sparse understory growth [15].

FIRE REGIMES :
Find fire regime information for the plant communities in which this
species may occur by entering the species name in the FEIS home page under
"Find FIRE REGIMES".

More info for the terms: frequency, shrubs, woodland

Due to effective fire control practices during the last 50 years, stands
of California juniper have extended their range to areas that formerly
supported grasses only [32].

Pinyon-juniper woodland can be converted to chaparral by severe burning
because fire eliminates nonsprouting dominant woodland species [15].
Fires often result in conversion of pinyon-juniper woodland to open
chaparral or sagebrush [18].

A burning frequency of 15 years or less is considered desirable for
maintenance of nonsprouting shrubs [32].

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More info for the term: phanerophyte

Phanerophyte

More info for the terms: forest, tree, woodland

California juniper most commonly occurs in pinyon-juniper woodlands that
border and integrate with chaparral along desert margins [14,24]. This
woodland type also occurs with montane forest elements, with Joshua tree
woodland, and with coastal sage scrub [14,15]. California juniper is a
dominant species in desert chaparral [14].

California juniper occurs in a climate that has mild, moist, sunny
winters and hot, dry summers. Most precipitation falls between December
and April, with annual precipitation ranging from less than 12 to more
than 40 inches (300-1,000 mm) at higher elevations [14,26]. Winter
temperatures range from 25 to 65 degrees Fahrenheit (-4 - 18 deg C), and
summer temperatures range from 55 to more than 100 degrees Fahrenheit
(12-38 deg C). The growing season of California juniper is 340 to 360
days [14].

Soils of chaparral are porous, rocky, coarse, and sandy or silty. These
soils are low in clay and in nutrients in comparison to agricultural
soils. These soils are also very shallow [14]. California juniper also
occurs on alluvial fans and steep slopes [14,15,38].

The altitude at which California juniper occurs varies as follows
[5,15,26]:

Location Feet Meters
Christmas Tree Pass, NV 3,220-4,020 975-1,218
Sonoran Desert, CA 3,500-10,000 1,060-3,030
San Beradino and
San Gabriel Mountains, CA 3,000-9,000 900-2,700

California juniper is most commonly associated with singleleaf pinyon.
Associates other than those previously mentioned vary between habitats.
Montane conifer forest associates are mentioned in the Distribution and
Occurrence frame. Pinyon-juniper woodland associates are
mountain-mahogany (Cercocarpus spp.), bitterbrush (Purshia spp.),
snakeweed (Gutierrizia brecteata), narrowleaf goldenweed, and California
buckwheat (Eriogonum fasciculatum) [15,38]. Desert edge and chaparral
associates include oaks (Quercus spp.), blackbrush (Coleogyne
ramosissima), creosotebush (Larrea divaricata), chamise (Adenostoma
fasciculatum), manzanita (Arctostaphylos spp.), ceanothus (Ceanothus
spp.), birchleaf mountain-mahogany (Cercocarpus spp.), desert
bitterbrush (Purshia glandulosa), Dorrs sage (Salvia dorii), and
cliffrose (Cowania spp.) [15,26,31,38].

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This species is known to occur in association with the following cover types (as classified by the Society of American Foresters):

211 White fir
239 Pinyon - juniper
244 Pacific ponderosa pine - Douglas-fir
247 Jeffrey pine
248 Knobcone pine
249 Canyon live oak
250 Blue oak - Digger pine

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This species is known to occur in the following ecosystem types (as named by the U.S. Forest Service in their Forest and Range Ecosystem [FRES] Type classification):

More info for the term: shrub

FRES21 Ponderosa pine
FRES23 Fir - spruce
FRES29 Sagebrush
FRES30 Desert shrub
FRES34 Chaparral - mountain shrub
FRES35 Pinyon - juniper

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This species is known to occur in association with the following plant community types (as classified by Küchler 1964):

More info for the terms: forest, woodland

K018 Pine - Douglas-fir forest
K019 Arizona pine forest
K021 Southwestern spruce - fir forest
K023 Juniper - pinyon woodland
K024 Juniper steppe woodland
K030 California oakwoods
K031 Oak - juniper woodlands
K032 Transition between K031 and K037
K033 Chaparral
K034 Montane chaparral
K035 Coastal sagebrush
K037 Mountain-mahogany - oak scrub
K038 Great Basin sagebrush
K041 Creosotebush
K055 Sagebrush steppe

California juniper is usually killed by fire [15,39].

More info for the term: tree

California juniper in pinyon-juniper woodlands provide food and shelter
for deer, elk, pronghorn, wild horses, Merriam's turkeys, and other
animals. The berry crops that are produced annually are consumed by
birds and mammals [2]. As California juniper matures, its foliage
becomes too high for deer to reach, thus providing little winter forage
[4,9]. On winter range, California juniper serves as emergency food for
sheep and goats and as staple browse for deer [31].

On Christmas Tree Pass, Nevada, areas of dense California juniper
supported birds such as Scott's oriole (Iclerus parisorum), Lesser
goldfinch (Carduelis psaltria), bushtit (Psaltriparus minimus), mourning
dove (Zenaida macroura), ladder-backed woodpecker (Picoides scalaris),
ruby-crowned kinglet (Regulus calendula), and ash-throated flycatcher
(Myiarchus cinerascens) [5].

More info for the terms: codominant, tree, woodland

California juniper is codominant primarily with singleleaf pinyon (Pinus
monophylla) in the pinyon-juniper type. This type occupies lower
elevations than the Utah juniper (Juniperus osteosperma) type [15,38].
California juniper is an understory associate in the blue oak (Quercus
douglasii)-narrowleaf goldenweed (Haplopappus linearfolius) community
found in the central and southern coastal foothills [1,13]. It also
occurs frequently as a scattered tree in grasslands, in interior live
oak woodlands (Quercus wislizenii), and microsites in chaparral [6]. On
the desert side of mountain ranges, it is associated with desert
chaparral [18]. California juniper is an indicator of Joshua tree
(Yucca brevifolia) woodland [29] and occurs in widely dispersed small
groves in southern California [38].

California juniper is listed as a codominant or dominant species in the
following classifications:

Desert scrub communities in the Sonoran Desert of California and Arizona
[8].
General vegetation communities of southern California [17].
General vegetation plant associations of southern California [28].
Desert vegetation community types of the Mojave Desert of southern California
[37].
Pinyon-juniper community types of San Bernadino Mountains of California
[40].

More info for the terms: shrub, tree

Tree, Shrub

More info for the term: tree

Silvicultural information pertaining to pinyon-juniper is sparse.
Silvicultural situations and methods depend on management and stand
characteristics. California juniper is not suitable for seed-tree
regeneration [12]. Rotations for wood production are long because of
slow growth rates. These vary from 100 years at best sites to 300 years
at poor sites. For Christmas trees, the rotation is 20 to 50 years
[24].

Harvests of California juniper should remove merchantable trees with
poor growth form that are infested with mistletoe, or those not expected
to survive until the next harvest. Slash burning after a harvest should
reduce fire hazard to acceptable conditions. Christmas tree cutting
should be exclusive to younger stands [24].

Thinning pinyon-juniper woodlands is usually not cost effective unless
Christmas trees or some other product can be removed [32].

California juniper can be important for watershed management [19].

Juniper mistletoe (Phoradendron juniperinum ssp. juniperinum) is
specific to juniper species and is the most important pathogen in
pinyon-juniper woodlands [24]. In lower parts of the Sierra San Pedro
Marti, California, juniper is susceptible to another mistletoe,
Phoradendron bolleanum ssp. densum [16].

For trees infected with dwarf mistletoe (Arceuthobium spp.), the
shelterwood method (even-aged management) can be effectively used for
treatment in stands if seedlings are not infected. In severely infected
stands, clearcutting is often the only effective method for treatment
and preventing its spread. Prescribed fires when used with clearcutting
to increase forage yield kill infected seedlings and reduce logging
slash [32].

AZ CA HI NV MEXICO

Native Americans used California juniper wood for sinew-backed bows.
They also ground up the berries (ie. fleshy cones) and molded them into
cakes, which were said to taste sweet [33].

Palatability of California juniper is fair to poor for deer and goats,
poor to useless for sheep, and useless for cattle and horses [31].

More info on this topic.

More info for the term: tree

Despite a growing season that is between 340 and 360 days, height growth
of dominant juniper trees is only 2 to 4 inches (5-10 cm) per year and
diameter growth only 0.04 to 0.2 inch (1-5 mm) per year [24]. Water is
the growth-limiting factor; tree age is not a major influence on the
growth rate [24].

California juniper flowers in the spring [19,25], and seeds germinate in
early spring [22].

After fire, other chaparral species may become dominant [15]. No
California juniper seedlings were found in burned areas in the first and
second postfire years [34]. Years are required for nonsprouting
conifers to establish after a fire [32].

More info for the terms: secondary colonizer, seed

Secondary colonizer - on-site seed
Secondary colonizer - off-site seed

California juniper seeds are dispersed by birds and mammals, which eat
the berries and then excrete viable, scarified seeds [24]. Minimum
seed-bearing age is not reported [19].

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This species can be found in the following regions of the western United States (according to the Bureau of Land Management classification of Physiographic Regions of the western United States):

3 Southern Pacific Border
4 Sierra Mountains
7 Lower Basin and Range

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More info for the term: climax

Obligate Climax Species

Mature California juniper is not shade tolerant. Seedlings, however,
appear to be shade dependent, possibly because these seedlings will
replace the juniper they grow up under [24]. In the absence of
disturbance (fire or other), junipers tend to replace themselves as
mature stands gradually die out [31]. Severe fires result in
elimination of nonsprouting junipers, such as California juniper, and
favor fire-adapted species of desert chaparral [15,18]. On rocky breaks
where it is protected from fire, California juniper is a climax species,
but in grasslands frequently disturbed by fire, California juniper is
not a climax species [39].

The currently accepted scientific name of California juniper is
Juniperus californica Carr. [25,35]. There are no recognized
varieties or subspecies.

More info for the term: tree

California junipers are rarely used for sawn products because they are
small and have poor growth form [24]. California juniper has a low tree
volume and is too poorly formed to have measurable volume in main-stem
sections [6]. Juniper fenceposts are well known in rangelands, where it
is said that "a juniper post will outlast two post holes" [6]. Besides
a source of fenceposts, California juniper is also a source of fuelwood
and Christmas trees. As technology improves and demand increases,
California juniper may become more important [24].