Rocky Mountain Juniper VS. Eastern Red Cedar

Johnathan

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In Oklahoma, ERC is everywhere... but I think Rocky Mountain is also...

Clearly I don't want that Cedar Apple Rust anywhere near my trees if I can help it.

Does anyone have any methods for differentiating the two junipers???
 

Dav4

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In Oklahoma, ERC is everywhere... but I think Rocky Mountain is also...

Clearly I don't want that Cedar Apple Rust anywhere near my trees if I can help it.

Does anyone have any methods for differentiating the two junipers???
I look at the tag...:D
 

Dav4

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The two juniper species are considered very close cousins, but I'm no taxonomist so take this with a fistful of salt. My personal experience says they should be easy to tell apart, but I've only seen collected RMJ from the arid, mountainous areas where they produce their exceptional deadwood trunks and the species may be different in a region like Oklahoma. Fwiw, my RMJ's all get C-A rust, though perhaps not to the degree that an erc would. Also, I wouldn't want an RMJ if it didn't have an awesome trunk, and I'm actually grafting new foliage onto two of them. With that said, look for a good trunk to collect and perhaps plan to swap out the foliage in the future.
 

hemmy

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Interesting question, I didn't realize these were so closely related.

http://forums.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/threads/juniperus-scopulorum-vs-virginiana.76621/

And from the efloras.org link above:


J. scopulorum
Scalelike leaves not overlapping, or, if so, by not more than 1/5 their length, apex obtuse to acute; bark of larger branchlets exfoliating in plates; seed cones maturing in 2 years, of 2 distinct sizes.

J. virginiana
Scalelike leaves overlapping by more than 1/4 their length, apex acute (to bluntly obtuse in var. silicicola, se United States); bark of larger branchlets usually exfoliating in strips; seed cones maturing in 1 year, of 1 size.
 

sorce

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The one with the dope Ass trunk is the one you want.

Leave the other one!

Sorce
 

Brian Van Fleet

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ERC suck for bonsai. I have grown them for multiple years early on, and they are disappointing. They get CA rust if you get near them with water, which lasts forever. You can control it, but not eliminate it. You will lose branches to it each year, big and small ones alike.

ERC also buds back strongly at crotches of old wood, but doesn't back bud well along branches, so you never get anything that resembles a good pad, you get clumps. They grow arrow-straight, and have horrible "memory", so wiring is never-ending. Add that to the growth habits, and it's very frustrating material for bonsai.

Do you have Ashe junipers or alligator junipers in OK? They're definitely TX trees, and would be infinitely better candidates. RMJ is also excellent. CA rust is controllable on them. I've managed to keep it at bay on mine since I collected them in 2013 using Daconil; even in my humid climate.
 
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