Natural History

The Alligator Juniper is a member of the Cypress Family. It is a large tree which grows to 50 feet in height with a trunk to 4 feet in diameter. The tree is easily identified by its bark, which becomes deeply fissured with age to form squares one to two inches on a side. Needles are blue-green in color and scaly and grow to 1/16 inch in length. The Alligator Juniper typically grows in oak and pinyon-juniper woodlands at elevations between 4500 and 8000 feet.
 

The cones of the tree appear as waxy grayish berries to 0.5 inches in diameter. Each cone, which provides food for some wildlife, contains 4 seeds which mature the second year after they form on the tree.