The One-seed juniper is an evergreen coniferous shrub or small tree, usually multistemmed, and with a dense, rounded crown. The bark is gray-brown, exfoliating in thin longitudinal strips.

The male produces many tiny cones. Male plants will appear more yellowish-brown than the females. Pollination begins in late winter, with April winds forcing an explosion of the white, smoke-like pollen into the air. The females produce berry-like seed cones that mature in five months to a bluish purplish shade.

The dense base provides shelter for desert cotton-tails and birds. The berries provide food for a variety of animals, especially coyotes and scrub jays. Berries were a food source for Ancestral Puebloans when other food was scarce, used in ceremonial rites and as medicine.

Ashes are still used as a dye for Navajo wool and for cooking traditional dishes.

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