Juniperus deppeana (alligator juniper or checkerbark juniper) is a small to medium-sized tree reaching NaNm (-2,147,483,648feet) in height. It is native to central and northern Mexico and the southwestern United States.
The tree reaches NaNm (-2,147,483,648feet), rarely 25m (82feet), in height. The bark is usually very distinctive, unlike other junipers, hard, dark gray-brown, cracked into small square plates superficially resembling alligator skin; it is however sometimes like other junipers, with stringy vertical fissuring. The shoots are NaNmm in diameter. On juvenile specimens, the leaves are needle-like and NaNmm long. The leaves are arranged in opposite decussate pairs or whorls of three; in adulthood they are scale-like, NaNmm long (up to 5 mm) and 1–1.5 mm broad. The cones are berrylike, NaNmm wide, green when young and maturing to orange-brown with a whitish waxy bloom,. These contain 2–6 seeds, which mature in about 18 months. The male cones are NaNmm long, and shed their pollen in spring. The species is largely dioecious, producing cones of only one sex on each tree, but occasional trees are monoecious.
There are five varieties, not accepted as distinct by all authorities:
Native American names include táscate and tláscal.
It is native to central and northern Mexico (from Oaxaca northward) and the southwestern United States (Arizona, New Mexico, western Texas). It grows at moderate altitudes of 750m-2700mm (2,460feet-8,900feetm) on dry soils.
The berrylike cones are eaten by birds and mammals.[1] [2]
Berries from alligator juniper growing in the Davis Mountains of West Texas are used to flavor gin, including one produced by WildGins Co. in Austin, Texas.[3]