# Ashe Juniper (Juniperus ashei)

> Ashe juniper, Juniperus ashei: a small tree of 10 to 50 feet for zones 7 to 9, when it sheds pollen and fruits, and the natives we grow for the same ground.

Blue Whale Trees, a native tree nursery in the United States. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/species/ashe-juniper/

![A dense, rounded Ashe juniper standing alone on a grassy glade under a clear blue sky](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/species/ashe-juniper-1000.jpg?v=b6b258e7 "An Ashe juniper on a glade of the White River Balds, Missouri, on October 30, 2010. The golden-cheeked warbler builds its nest from strips of the tree's shaggy bark.")
*Photo: cm195902, [CC BY 2.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0) ([source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AAshe_Juniper.jpg))*

Small tree, 10 to 50 feet, zones 7 to 9; full sun or part shade; dry or average ground.

We do not grow Ashe juniper, and it is not in our shop. This page gathers what our tools say about it and the natives we grow for the same ground.

Many Texas landowners clear Ashe juniper. Without fire it has spread from rocky slopes and canyons into the grasslands around them, and its winter pollen gives many people an allergy. Yet it was already common in central Texas when the first European explorers arrived, and its berries feed many birds and small mammals. The golden-cheeked warbler, an endangered bird that nests only in central Texas, builds its nest from strips of the tree's shaggy bark, so it needs mature juniper and oak woodland. Clearing those woodlands for houses, roads and pasture is why the warbler is endangered. Range scientists favor a mix of open juniper stands and grassland over clearing every tree.

## At a glance

| Fact | Ashe Juniper |
| --- | --- |
| Other names | Rock cedar, Texas cedar, brake cedar, Mexican juniper, blueberry juniper, Ozark white cedar |
| Form | Small tree |
| Height, feet | 10 to 50 |
| Spread, feet | Up to 25 |
| Zones | 7 to 9 |
| Sun | Full sun or part shade |
| Soil moisture | Dry or average ground |
| Growth | Slow |
| Leaves | Evergreen |
| Traits | Wildlife value, hedge or screen, street tree, erosion control |
| Pollen | December to May |
| Fruit | Berries, August to November |
| First crop | 10 to 20 years |
| Pollination | Separate male and female trees. Male and female cones grow on separate trees, so a female tree bears berries only with a male nearby. |
| Lifespan | Can live 500 years, and the oldest dated one was at least 281. The Gymnosperm Database reports no cross-dating between the samples, so it is unclear whether this species makes annual rings. |
| Black walnut | Not named on the Morton Arboretum's lists |
| Ground | Rocky ground, dry uplands, old fields and edges |
| Native in | 4 states |

Ashe juniper is native in 4 states: [Arkansas](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=AR), [Missouri](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MO), [Oklahoma](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=OK) and [Texas](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=TX). The states are the USDA PLANTS Database's records, with the native range read from the Fire Effects Information System and NatureServe Explorer.

## What our tools say

- [How fast it grows and how big it gets, by site](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md?species=ashe-juniper): the growth estimator
- [Whether it suits your zone, sun and soil](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md?species=ashe-juniper): the planting-site check
- [How far from a house, wires and a septic field](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/distance/index.html.md?species=ashe-juniper&near=house,septic,pavement,wires,boundary,tree): the planting-distance tool
- [What grows with it in the wild and in a yard](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=ashe-juniper): the companion species tool
- [When to plant it where you live](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/planting-window/index.html.md?species=ashe-juniper): the planting-window tool
- [When it sheds pollen and fruits, month by month](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md?plants=ashe-juniper): the bloom and fruit calendar
- [How to sow its seed, with dates for your place](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md?species=ashe-juniper): the seed sowing planner
- [How many to plant for a crop of seed](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md?plants=ashe-juniper:5): the pollination planner
- [Whether one you have can be moved, and what the move takes](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/transplant/index.html.md?species=ashe-juniper): the transplant planner
- [How old one is, from its trunk](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/tree-age/index.html.md?species=ashe-juniper): the tree age calculator
- [How a big one scores against the champion trees](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/big-tree/index.html.md?species=ashe-juniper): the big-tree measurer

## For the same ground, we grow

- [Eve's Necklace](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/eve-necklace/index.html.md) (*Styphnolobium affine*): small tree, 15 to 30 feet, zones 7 to 9. Shares rocky ground, dry uplands, old fields and edges in the wild.
- [Gum Bumelia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/gum-bumelia/index.html.md) (*Sideroxylon lanuginosum*): small tree, 15 to 45 feet, zones 5 to 10. Shares rocky ground, dry uplands, old fields and edges in the wild.
- [Farkleberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/farkleberry/index.html.md) (*Vaccinium arboreum*): small tree, 10 to 25 feet, zones 6 to 10. Shares rocky ground, dry uplands, old fields and edges in the wild.
- [Rusty Blackhaw](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/rusty-blackhaw/index.html.md) (*Viburnum rufidulum*): small tree, 10 to 20 feet, zones 5 to 9. Shares rocky ground, dry uplands, old fields and edges in the wild.
- [Dwarf Hackberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/dwarf-hackberry/index.html.md) (*Celtis tenuifolia*): small tree, 15 to 30 feet, zones 4 to 9. Shares rocky ground, dry uplands, old fields and edges in the wild.
- [Western Soapberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/western-soapberry/index.html.md) (*Sapindus saponaria var. drummondii*): medium tree, 20 to 50 feet, zones 5 to 9. Shares rocky ground, dry uplands, old fields and edges in the wild.
- [Every companion of Ashe juniper in the companion species tool](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=ashe-juniper)

## Read from

Its figures come from the Forest Service's Fire Effects Information System, the Woody Plant Seed Manual, the USDA PLANTS Database, the Wildflower Center, UF/IFAS Extension, the Missouri Department of Conservation, the Gymnosperm Database, the Native Plant Society of Texas, Zenodo and Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.