Twisted Juniper Tree 001627

Title

Twisted Juniper Tree 001627

Artist

Renny Spencer

Medium

Photograph - Photography

Description

The shadows of these twisted mountain junipers dance on the red walls of a rock cliff near Colorado Springs, Co, USA.

https://www.desertusa.com/flora/junipers.html
"Another desert attribute of the tree is that junipers can inhabit poor quality soils and thrive where others fail. At times they are a pioneer species, able to become established in altered landscapes. Of course, these plants will also take advantage of fertile and moist sites and may be found growing in canyon bottoms or sheltered sites.

To exist in these dry climates, juniper trees have stout taproots and for some species extensive lateral root systems that efficiently obtain moisture where none seems to exist. Junipers are also dimorphic, meaning they have two growth forms. Seedlings bear bluish-green awl-shaped leaves that are pointed at the tip possibly to discourage herbivores. Mature leaves are darker green and scalelike in appearance. This juvenile form may help reduce herbivores from devouring the young plants. The mature leaves are borne in pairs or whorls of three, are rounded at the tip and appressed to the twig. As the trees age, the trunks may become twisted or gnarled. Exactly why this habit occurs, no one knows. Stout single trunks or multiple stems originating from the ground are a couple of forms the trees exhibit.

Junipers are members of the cypress family (Cupressaceae) which includes cedars. The genus Juniperus is the old Latin name for the plant.

Occidentalis means “western” and indicates the range of this species. Western junipers occur in the Great Basin portion of eastern California, northwestern Nevada, eastern Oregon, and portions of eastern Washington and southwestern Idaho. In the Sierras, these junipers often grow at higher elevation, 7,000 to 10,000 feet, and resemble small sequoias. The trees occupy rocky habitats where other conifers cannot gain a roothold."

---Renny Spencer
https://rennyspencerphotography.com

Uploaded

September 26th, 2021

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