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Plant · P-1008
Alligator Juniper
Juniperus deppeana
Alligator juniper is a slow-growing, long-lived evergreen conifer named for its thick, deeply furrowed, plated bark that resembles reptile skin. It grows on rocky, sun-baked slopes and ridges from the mountains of the southwestern United States south into Mexico, tolerating drought, heat, cold and poor, rocky soil once established. Its sweet, resinous, fleshy cones are eaten fresh or dried and ground into meal, and feed a wide range of birds and mammals through the year.
Record at a glance
Growing profile
- Sun
- Full Sun
- USDA zone
- USDA 6–9
- Soil
- Sand · Loam · Clay
- Moisture
- Dry · Moist
Vertical layer
Canopy- Soil pH
- 5.3–8.2
- Plant type
- Evergreen Tree
- Mature height
- 50–90 ft
- Mature spread
- 39 ft
- Plant spacing
- 25–30 ft
- Root type
- Not yet recorded
- Spread pattern
- Seed
Keep exploring
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American Elm
Ulmus americana
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American Holly
Ilex opaca
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American Persimmon
Diospyros virginiana
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Apple
Malus domestica
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The deeper layer
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- Primary
- Locked ecological function
- Secondary
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- Byproduct
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Behind the record
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