Introductory
SPECIES: Juniperus flaccida | Drooping Juniper 



ABBREVIATION : 
JUNFLA

SYNONYMS : 
NO-ENTRY


SCS PLANT CODE : 
   JUFL


COMMON NAMES : 
   drooping juniper
   weeping juniper
   Mexican drooping juniper
   weeping cedar
   drooping cedar
   tascate
   cedro
   cedro colorado
   sabino
   tlaxcal


TAXONOMY : 
The currently accepted scientific name for drooping juniper is
Juniperus flaccida Schlect. [8,18].  Accepted varieties are
as follows [21]:

     Juniperus flaccida var. flaccida
     Juniperus flaccida var. poblana Martinez.



LIFE FORM : 
Tree, Shrub

FEDERAL LEGAL STATUS : 
No special status

OTHER STATUS : 
NO-ENTRY


COMPILED BY AND DATE : 
Janet Sullivan, October 1993


LAST REVISED BY AND DATE : 
NO-ENTRY


AUTHORSHIP AND CITATION : 
Sullivan, Janet. 1993. Juniperus flaccida. In: Remainder of Citation

DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURRENCE
SPECIES: Juniperus flaccida | Drooping Juniper 



GENERAL DISTRIBUTION : 
Drooping juniper occurs in the United States only in Big Bend National
Park, Brewster County, Texas [13].  The major portion of its range is in
Mexico and extends from Chihuahua and northeastern Sonora south to
Oaxaca and Guatemala [8,14].  It is the most common juniper in Mexico [10].


ECOSYSTEMS : 
   FRES33  Southwestern shrubsteppe
   FRES34  Chaparral - mountain shrub
   FRES35  Pinyon - juniper
   FRES40  Desert grasslands


STATES : 
     TX  MEXICO


ADMINISTRATIVE UNITS : 
     BIBE


BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS : 
   13  Rocky Mountain Piedmont


KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS : 
   K031  Oak - juniper woodlands


SAF COVER TYPES : 
   241  Western live oak


SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES : 
NO-ENTRY


HABITAT TYPES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES : 
In the United States, drooping juniper is scattered in grassland or
scrub communities. It is also scattered in woodlands with other tree
species including Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), Mexican pinyon
(Pinus cembroides), Grave's oak (Quercus gravesii), gray oak (Q.
grisea), and alligator juniper (Juniperus deppeana) [19].

VALUE AND USE
SPECIES: Juniperus flaccida | Drooping Juniper 



WOOD PRODUCTS VALUE : 
Drooping juniper wood is durable and is used for fenceposts [17,18].


IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE : 
The fleshy cones of drooping juniper are consumed by birds and mammals [21].


PALATABILITY : 
NO-ENTRY


NUTRITIONAL VALUE : 
NO-ENTRY


COVER VALUE : 
NO-ENTRY


VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES : 
NO-ENTRY


OTHER USES AND VALUES : 
Drooping juniper is planted as an ornamental outside of its native range
in the United States, southern Europe, and northern Africa [13,18].


MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
NO-ENTRY

BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Juniperus flaccida | Drooping Juniper 



GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS : 
Drooping juniper is a native small tree or large shrub.  Height at
maturity usually ranges from 25 to 30 feet (7.6-9.1 m) [13].  The
national champion is 55 feet (16.7 m) tall with a crown spread of 35
feet (10.6 m) and a circumference of 8.5 feet (2.5 m) [10].  The most
conspicuous character of drooping juniper is its pendant branchlets.
Young drooping juniper trees usually have a narrow rounded crown.  The
bark is deeply furrowed and shreds into long strips.  The globose,
berrylike cone is dull black and leathery.  The cone takes 2 years to
mature [13].  Each cone contains from 4 to 12 seeds [14].

Drooping juniper is usually slow growing and is long lived [17].


RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM : 
   Phanerophyte


REGENERATION PROCESSES : 
Large seed crops are produced every 2 to 3 years, with light crops
produced in intervening years [4].  Seeds are disseminated by birds and
mammals.  The widespread distribution of drooping juniper in Mexico is
probably partly due to the number of seeds per cone, which is large when
compared to other junipers [21].


SITE CHARACTERISTICS : 
Drooping juniper occurs on dry, rocky or sandy, igneous soils in
canyons, benches, hillsides, and ridges.  It usually occurs above 5,000
feet (1,524 m) elevation [4,13,14].


SUCCESSIONAL STATUS : 
NO-ENTRY


SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT : 
Drooping juniper cones mature in September of their second year and are
persistent [17].

FIRE ECOLOGY
SPECIES: Juniperus flaccida | Drooping Juniper 



FIRE ECOLOGY OR ADAPTATIONS : 
Fire is a common occurrence in the Chisos Mountains in which drooping
juniper occurs.  Dick-Peddie and Alberico [2] reported that lightning
fires are probably highly localized, and are often confined to single
trees.  Downed woody fuels are usually scarce and continuous fine fuels
consist of grasses and herbs.

Specific information on the fire ecology of drooping juniper is lacking.
Other junipers (Juniperus spp.) are highly vulnerable to fire, and
usually occur in large numbers only in fire refugia.


POSTFIRE REGENERATION STRATEGY : 
   Tree without adventitious-bud root crown

FIRE EFFECTS
SPECIES: Juniperus flaccida | Drooping Juniper 



IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT : 
Specific information on the relationship of fire severity and damage
to drooping juniper is lacking.   Drooping juniper has shreddy bark and
volatile leaf oils which probably render it highly flammable.  It is
probably easily killed by fire.


DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF FIRE EFFECT : 
NO-ENTRY


PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE : 
NO-ENTRY


DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF PLANT RESPONSE : 
NO-ENTRY


FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
NO-ENTRY

REFERENCES
SPECIES: Juniperus flaccida | Drooping Juniper 



REFERENCES : 

 .  Bernard, Stephen R.; Brown, Kenneth F. 1977. Distribution of mammals,
       reptiles, and amphibians by BLM physiographic regions and A.W. Kuchler's
       associations for the eleven western states. Tech. Note 301. Denver, CO:
       U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management. 169 p. 
       [434]

 .  Dick-Peddie, William A.; Alberico, Michael S. 1977. Fire ecology study
       of the Chisos Mountains, Big Bend National Park, Texas: Phase I. CDRI
       Contribution No. 35. Alpine, TX: The Chihuahuan Desert Research
       Institute. 47 p.  [5002]

 .  Duncan, Wilbur H.; Duncan, Marion B. 1988. Trees of the southeastern
       United States. Athens, GA: The University of Georgia Press. 322 p. 
       [12764]

 .  Elias, Thomas S. 1980. The complete trees of North America: field guide
       and natural history. New York: Times Mirror Magazines, Inc. 948 p. 
       [21987]

 .  Eyre, F. H., ed. 1980. Forest cover types of the United States and
       Canada. Washington, DC: Society of American Foresters. 148 p.  [905]

 .  Garrison, George A.; Bjugstad, Ardell J.; Duncan, Don A.; [and others].
       1977. Vegetation and environmental features of forest and range
       ecosystems. Agric. Handb. 475. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of
       Agriculture, Forest Service. 68 p.  [998]

 .  Kuchler, A. W. 1964. Manual to accompany the map of potential vegetation
       of the conterminous United States. Special Publication No. 36. New York:
       American Geographical Society. 77 p.  [1384]

 .  Little, Elbert L., Jr. 1979. Checklist of United States trees (native
       and naturalized). Agric. Handb. 541. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of
       Agriculture, Forest Service. 375 p.  [2952]

 .  Mitchell, Alan F. 1972. Conifers in the British Isles: A descriptive
       handbook. Forestry Commission Booklet No. 33. London: Her Majesty's
       Stationery Office. 322 p.  [20571]

.  Powell, A. Michael. 1988. Trees & shrubs of Trans-Pecos Texas including
       Big Bend and Guadalupe Mountains National Parks. Big Bend National Park,
       TX: Big Bend Natural History Association. 536 p.  [6130]

.  Raunkiaer, C. 1934. The life forms of plants and statistical plant
       geography. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 632 p.  [2843]

.  Schoenhals, Louise C. 1988. A Spanish-English glossary of Mexican flora
       and fauna. [Place of publication unknown]: Summer Institute of
       Linguistics, Mexico. 637 p.  [25989]

.  Simpson, Benny J. 1988. A field guide to Texas trees. Austin, TX: Texas
       Monthly Press. 372 p.  [11708]

.  Standley, P. C. 1924. Trees and shrubs of Mexico. Contrib. U.S. Nat.
       Herb. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Press; 23: 849-1312.  [20916]

.  Stickney, Peter F. 1989. Seral origin of species originating in northern
       Rocky Mountain forests. Unpublished draft on file at: U.S. Department of
       Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain Research Station, Fire
       Sciences Laboratory, Missoula, MT; RWU 4403 files. 7 p.  [20090]

.  U.S. Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service. 1982.
       National list of scientific plant names. Vol. 1. List of plant names.
       SCS-TP-159. Washington, DC. 416 p.  [11573]

.  Van Dersal, William R. 1938. Native woody plants of the United States,
       their erosion-control and wildlife values. Washington, DC: U.S.
       Department of Agriculture. 362 p.  [4240]

.  Vines, Robert A. 1960. Trees, shrubs, and woody vines of the Southwest.
       Austin, TX: University of Texas Press. 1104 p.  [7707]

.  Wauer, Roland H. 1971. Ecological distribution of birds of the Chisos
       Mountains, Texas. Southwestern Naturalist. 16(1): 1-29.  [24969]

.  Wright, Henry A.; Bailey, Arthur W. 1982. Fire ecology: United States
       and southern Canada. New York: John Wiley & Sons. 501 p.  [2620]

.  Zanoni, Thomas A.; Adams, Robert P. 1976. The genus Juniperus in Mexico
       and Guatemala: numerical and chemosystematic analysis. Biochemical
       Systematics and Ecology. 4: 147-158.  [19991]

Related categories for Species: Juniperus flaccida | Drooping Juniper