Shrub or small tree, the cultivars sometimes prostrate. Branches upright to drooping. Leaves mostly scale-like, unpleasant-smelling when crushed. Needle leaves present but few, mostly in pairs 5-6 mm long. Fruit spherical, 5-7 mm wide, ripening in second year to a waxy dark blue. Seeds 2, rarely 3.
Grows naturally on dry montane ridges at alt. c. 2-3000 m.
W North America (Rockies).
Very similar to J. virginiana with both needle and scale leaves but the branchlets are thicker, more than 1 mm wide and the fruit, which is about 6 mm wide, ripens in the second year to a waxy blue and generally contains 2 seeds.
Source: (1995). Cupressaceae. In: . Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 1, Ferns, conifers & their allies. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.
Juniperus scopulorum 'Blue Heaven'
Conical, leaves pale blue green. Originated Plumfield Nsy, Fremont, Nebraska, USA in 1960s.
Juniperus scopulorum 'Horizontalis Glauca'
A probable synonym for J. horizontalis 'Glauca'.
Juniperus scopulorum 'Moffettii'
Foliage green and silver. A selection by l.a. Moffet of the Plumfield Nsy, Fremont, Nebraska, USA, c. 1941.
Juniperus scopulorum 'Moonglow'
Upright, conical with striking blue foliage. Broader than 'Skyrocket'. Origin unknown but listed in the USA in 1970.
Juniperus scopulorum 'Repens Priorsport'
As 'Repens' but more dense, compact and slow-growing. Australian raised.
Dwarf with the branches widespreading to form a carpet, tips upturned, leaves green to blue-green needle-like. Prostrate form found in the hills near Lake Windemere, Kootenay Dist., British Colombia, Canada.
Juniperus scopulorum 'Skyrocket'
Medium-sized, extremely narrow and conical with the branches and branchlets all strongly vertical. Leaves pale blue, scale-like. Widely grown in south-eastern Australia as a vertical accent plant. Often incorrectly listed as a J. virginiana cultivar. American raised, Schuel Nsy, South Bend, Indiana, usa, 1949; originally selected from plants found in the wild.
Vic: Ballarat (Bot. Gds).
Juniperus scopulorum 'Table Top'
Dense, flat-topped shrub, the branches thin and spreading, leaves small and pale blue. Origin unknown.
Juniperus scopulorum 'Tolleson'
S Blue Weeping' Upright medium sized with an open, conical habit and branchlets long, dense, drooping in festoons. Leaves pale blue. American raised and listed in 1978.