Daily Archive

Like the other trees I’ve been drawing for the past couple of weeks, the Western juniper has tight, scale-like mature leaves. But when the leaves (and seedlings) are young, they are more needlelike. This is the case of most if not all of these trees, but I haven’t always found photos of that juvenile stage. Here is Juniperus occidentalis on its way from juvenile to adult.

The tree is common, but mostly in Oregon; in California, it’s found up in the Sierras, not here along the coast.