Plant Description
Small shrubby tree with pinkish-red juicy berry-like cones; open, irregular crown of spreading branches. Trunk diameter to 8 inches. Lower branches originate near the ground level.
2 leaf types, whip and scale-like; scale-like leaves pointed at apex, not overlapping or by less than 1/4 their length; whip-leaf top surface has a powdery bloom. Cones fleshy, pinkish-red with powdery bloom. Male and female cones on different trees.
Habitat
Desert grasslands, dry foothills and mountains. Dry, well-drained soils in full sun.
Leaves
Scale-like. In 4 rows forming 4 angled twigs. 1/16 inch long.
Flowers
Gymnosperm, no flowers.
Fruit
Male cones are small pale yellow in large clusters at ends of twigs. Female cones are small, round pale green, 5/16 inch in diameter. Hardens at maturity, fleshy when young. Fruit matures in 1 growing season, disperses in the fall, 1 to 2 seeds.