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Spectacular Sierra junipers

June 10, 2014 by Jonas Dupuich

Among my favorite trees in nature is this Sierra juniper.

Juniper

 Spectacular Sierra juniper

The tree sits on a throne facing East where it enjoys limited protection from the wind. It gives evidence to a protracted and tortuous existence. How big is it?

Juniper

Standing on the rock behind the tree for perspective

Pretty big. The deadwood is terrifying.

Deadwood

Deadwood detail

Possibly because I take so much enjoyment from being in the mountains, let alone being near such trees, this was the first visit on which I was able to step back a bit and appreciate how these junipers survive in such an environment. Some of what I noticed surprised me. Although the most sinuous specimens occasionally cascaded down the granite, they more frequently grew upwards, supported by the boulders from which their roots sprang.

Juniper

Juniper creeping up the rock

In addition to providing a solid anchor for the roots, the boulders provide support to branches attempting to grow towards the light. When there was no stone to cling to, and when a slight protrusion in the stone offered additional shelter, the occasional cascading branch descended.

Juniper

Cascading branch

Lower down on the same boulder was a fully cascading juniper.

Juniper

 Cascade Sierra juniper

The deadwood and trunk line is impressive

Deadwood

Contorted deadwood

I found a surprising number of trees that followed the same general pattern – roots emerging from stone and a silhouette that mirrored the shape of the boulder below. On the smaller side, some of these extended no more than 3′ above the base of the roots.

Juniper

Compact juniper

Some larger trees followed the same pattern.

Juniper

One of my favorite silhouettes

Junipers growing at the base of larger boulders took on quite different characteristics. The large juniper below sported a variety of deadwood ranging from sinuous and twisty to wild and splintered.

Juniper

 Large Sierra juniper – no twists in the main trunk

The branches were a different story.

Deadwood

 Zigs and zags

Below this, a lower trunk sported what looked like a wave or a fold of soft fabric.

Deadwood

Deadwood on the lower trunk

The side with the greatest exposure to the elements looked it.

Deadwood

Wild deadwood

I took a different route than I’d taken in the past which brought me to a few new trees – some alive, some dead. The dead specimen below had some of the more beautiful and flame-like movement on the mountain.

Deadwood

Long-dead juniper

In the lee of the stone on which this tree once grew was one of my new favorites. The shot below fails to convey the highlights, but the short version is that the tree starts with a base over 6′ wide and tapers to nothing at 3′ where the entire tree loops back down behind the shelter of the boulder. A cascading branch protrudes to the right.

Juniper

Looping apex, cascading branch

Just below this tree I found a large semi-cascade juniper. The giant base was about 6′ across.

Juniper

Semi-cascade Sierra juniper

Other junipers simply made up shapes like the corkscrew below.

Juniper

Corkscrew juniper

More common – and more iconic – were the specimens that rose up at one point but were subsequently buffeted by the elements and knocked down to a much lower height.

Juniper

Upright juniper

In these specimens there is little question about which side bears the brunt of the elements.

Juniper

Windswept Sierra juniper

This phenomenon is borne out by the general landscape on which little sticks around that’s not anchored to stone.

Juniper

Pausing to enjoy the view

Up next – final highlights from Meiss Meadow.

✕

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Filed Under: Excursions Tagged With: Sierra juniper

Previous Post: « Junipers on the edge
Next Post: The twistiest of junipers »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. mirko says

    June 10, 2014 at 5:25 am

    Super report!

  2. Jardin says

    June 10, 2014 at 7:49 am

    Incredible, & beautiful photography to capture it.

  3. Stephen Sikes says

    June 10, 2014 at 8:05 am

    Awesome photos & great report Jonas!

  4. Tim Weckman says

    June 10, 2014 at 8:08 am

    Very inspiring- so meaningful to see these in situ– Many thanks!

  5. Patricia Tatich says

    June 10, 2014 at 9:22 am

    The photos of deadwood in their natural setting are just beautiful! Time has come for bonsai societies to have a category for photos of these trees that have stood the test of time to be on-par with suiseki – thank you so much for sharing…Patricia in Upstate NY

  6. Jeremiah Lee says

    June 11, 2014 at 10:41 am

    Love it! Beautiful! Fantastic blog!

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