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The second tree in the “untoothed simple leaves” section of the field guide, like the first, is a spiny desert dweller that has barely any leaves at all. Finally I spotted one clinging to a twig in a photo that was clearly meant to showcase the thorns and the brilliant indigo flowers. But short-lived though the leaves of Psorothamnus spinosus (formerly Dalea spinosa) are, they are simple and untoothed. And also very fuzzy, which is a challenge to my drawing ability that I see will continue with some other trees in my near future.

It has mistakes, as always, but for me this is a successful drawing: when I get into the paper what I love about the subject: here, the tangle and depth of the twigs and thorns, and the light that filters through it.

Several plants bear this common name, but this is the first I’ve ever drawn (or heard of), and it is sheer coincidence that I came to it on Good Friday.

I’m not sure if the drawing is finished, or I’m just tired. I think the latter, in which case I will finish it tomorrow.

These aren’t the leaves, by the way. I think the leaves are the tiny, scattered dark spots–not very interesting, whereas the tangle of twigs and thorns–! Canotia carries out its photosynthesis via its twigs.

This is the last of the conifers. I’m looking forward to entering the world of broadleaf, deciduous trees. Thank you for your beauty, pines, firs, spruce, cedars, cypresses, junipers!

This is the other tree that’s sometimes called redberry juniper. It is named after Gifford Pinchot, a forester, conservationist, political ally of Theodore Roosevelt, and governor of Pennsylvania who served as the first head of the U. S. Forest Service.

The pitfalls of using a 42-year-old field guide to the trees may be few, but occasionally one does stumble into them. When I started looking for redberry juniper photos, I quickly realized that there are two trees commonly called by this name: Juniperus pinchotii and Juniperus coahuilensis. So I went back to the guide, looked up the Latin name of the redberry in question and discovered it is–neither one. In the field guide, it is J. erythrocarpa, which seems not to exist anymore. Process of elimination made it clear that it has been renamed J. coahuilensis (which seems to have previously been the name of one variety of erythrocarpa), since tomorrow’s tree, Pinchot juniper, is, yes, J. pinchotii.

I wonder why the name changed, but I don’t wonder enough to do any research. I just enjoyed drawing some of its leaves, complete with two of the said berries.

Usually I draw a bunch, especially with these scale-like leaves, each so tiny. But here is a single leaf of alligator juniper. Each exudes resin, which appears white.

The common name comes from the bark’s resemblance to alligator hide.

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.