Index / Search / Juniperus osteosperma

§1 Plant

Juniperus osteosperma (Torr.) Little

vernacular Utah juniper — species · Cupressaceae


USDA
JUOS
GBIF
2684818
Rank
species
Utah juniper (Juniperus osteosperma)
Platephotograph · Michael J. PapayCC BY source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Habit and range

Growth habit
Tree
Duration
Perennial
Group
Gymnosperm
Family
Cupressaceae Gray
Genus
Juniperus
§2a

Native status, by region

  • L48 Lower 48 States Native
§2b

County-level range

· 28 counties across 3 states/territories
Legend Native · 28 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought
High
Shade
High
Moisture use
Low
Fire
Low
Salinity
Low
Anaerobic
None
CaCO₃
High
Hedging
Medium
§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance
-28 °F minimum
Frost-free days
140 min.
Precipitation
12–20 in/yr
pH range
6.5–8.2
Root depth
20 in min.
Fertility need
Low
Soil texture
coarse, medium
§3c

Form & growth

Growth form
Single Stem
Growth rate
Slow
Lifespan
Long
Mature height
26 ft
Height @ 20 y
25 ft
Foliage texture
Medium
Foliage colour
Green
Porosity (summer)
Dense
Porosity (winter)
Dense
Flower colour
Yellow
Fruit colour
Blue
Fire resistant
No
N fixation
None
Toxicity
None
§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period
Early Spring
Seed abundance
High
Seed begins
Summer
Seed ends
Fall
Spread rate
Slow
Stratify
No
Seeds / lb
5,217
Propagation
seed, bare root, container
§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability
Routinely Available
Nursery stock
Yes
Browse palatability
Low
Graze palatability
Low
Palatable, human
No
Protein potential
Low
Lumber
No
Fuelwood
Medium
Christmas tree
No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 28 counties across 3 states/territories.


§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/JUOS ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/2684818 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26

fetched 2026-05-26T10:50:45Z