The alligator juniper, Juniperus deppeana, an evergreen tree whose bark resembles an alligator's skin, grows in the dry hills and mesas of the southwest United States and Mexico.
The fleshy berries, the size of marbles, turn red-brown at maturity. They usually have two to five seeds while other junipers have one to three. Their fruits are an important food for many birds and animals and was a crop that many Indian tribes gathered for winter use. The Tarahumara occasionally string the fruits into necklaces.
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