Juniperus macrocarpa

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Juniperus macrocarpa
Juniperus macrocarpa Paros3.jpg
Juniperus macrocarpa in sand dune habitat, Paros Island, Greece
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Gymnospermae
Division: Pinophyta
Class: Pinopsida
Order: Cupressales
Family: Cupressaceae
Genus: Juniperus
Section: Juniperus sect. Juniperus
Species:
J. macrocarpa
Binomial name
Juniperus macrocarpa

Juniperus macrocarpa (large-fruited juniper, syn. J. oxycedrus subsp. macrocarpa (Sibth. & Sm.) Ball) is a species of juniper, native across the northern Mediterranean region from southwestern Spain [2] east to western Turkey and Cyprus, growing on coastal sand dunes from sea level up to 75 metres (246 feet) in altitude. [3] [4] A single, isolated tree is found further west, in a cliff in southern Portugal. [5]

Foliage and immature cones, Paros Island, Greece Juniperus macrocarpa Paros1.jpg
Foliage and immature cones, Paros Island, Greece

It is a spreading shrub 2–5 m (6+1216+12 ft) tall, rarely a small tree up to 14 m (46 ft) tall. The leaves are broad lanceolate, produced in whorls of three, green, 12–20 millimetres (1234 in) long and 2–3 mm broad, with a double white stomatal band split by a green midrib on the inner surface. It is dioecious, with separate male and female plants. The seed cones are berry-like, green ripening in 18 months to orange-red with a variable pink waxy coating; they are spherical, 12–18 mm diameter, and have six fused scales in two whorls, three of the scales with a single seed. The seeds are dispersed when birds eat the cones, digesting the fleshy scales and passing the hard seeds in their droppings. The pollen cones are yellow, 2–3 mm long, and fall soon after shedding their pollen in late winter. [3] [4] [6]

Despite its distinct morphology with large cones and broad leaves more like those of Juniperus drupacea , it has often been treated as a subspecies of Juniperus oxycedrus , [4] though recent genetic studies [3] [7] [8] have shown its DNA is distinct from that of J. oxycedrus.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Juniper</span> Genus of plants

Junipers are coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus Juniperus of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Depending on the taxonomy, between 50 and 67 species of junipers are widely distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere, from the Arctic, south to tropical Africa, throughout parts of western, central and southern Asia, east to eastern Tibet in the Old World, and in the mountains of Central America. The highest-known juniper forest occurs at an altitude of 4,900 metres (16,100 ft) in southeastern Tibet and the northern Himalayas, creating one of the highest tree lines on earth.

<i>Juniperus communis</i> Species of conifer in the cypress family Cupressaceae

Juniperus communis, the common juniper, is a species of small tree or shrub in the cypress family Cupressaceae. An evergreen conifer, it has the largest geographical range of any woody plant, with a circumpolar distribution throughout the cool temperate Northern Hemisphere.

<i>Juniperus oxycedrus</i> Species of plant

Juniperus oxycedrus, vernacularly called Cade, cade juniper, prickly juniper, prickly cedar, or sharp cedar, is a species of juniper, native across the Mediterranean region, growing on a variety of rocky sites from sea level. The specific epithet oxycedrus means "sharp cedar" and this species may have been the original cedar or cedrus of the ancient Greeks.

<i>Juniperus excelsa</i> Species of conifer

Juniperus excelsa, commonly called the Greek juniper, is a juniper found throughout the eastern Mediterranean, from northeastern Greece and southern Bulgaria across Turkey to Syria and Lebanon, Jordan, the Caucasus mountains, and southern coast of Crimea.

<i>Juniperus drupacea</i> Species of conifer

Juniperus drupacea, the Syrian juniper, is a species of juniper native to the eastern Mediterranean region from southern Greece, southern Turkey, western Syria, and Lebanon, growing on rocky sites from 800–1,700 metres in altitude. The species is the sole member of Juniperus sect. Caryocedrus., which is sometimes recognised as genus Arceuthos.

<i>Juniperus thurifera</i> Species of conifer

Juniperus thurifera is a species of juniper native to the mountains of the western Mediterranean region, from southern France across eastern and central Spain to Morocco and locally in northern Algeria.

<i>Juniperus procumbens</i> Species of conifer

Juniperus procumbens is a species of shrub in the cypress family Cupressaceae, native to Japan. This low-growing evergreen conifer is closely related to the Chinese juniper, Juniperus chinensis, and is sometimes treated as a variety of it, as J. chinensis var. procumbens.

<i>Juniperus squamata</i> Species of Juniper

Juniperus squamata, the flaky juniper, or Himalayan juniper is a species of coniferous shrub in the cypress family Cupressaceae, native to the Himalayas and China.

<i>Juniperus cedrus</i> Species of conifer

Juniperus cedrus, the Canary Islands juniper, is a species of juniper, native to the western Canary Islands and Madeira, where it occurs at altitudes of 500–2400 m. It is closely related to Juniperus oxycedrus of the Mediterranean region and Juniperus brevifolia of the Azores.

<i>Juniperus foetidissima</i> Species of conifer

Juniperus foetidissima, with common names foetid juniper or stinking juniper, is a juniper tree species in the family Cupressaceae.

<i>Juniperus brevifolia</i> Species of conifer

Juniperus brevifolia, the Azores juniper, is a species of juniper, endemic to the Azores, where it occurs at altitudes of 240–800 metres, rarely up to 1,500 m (4,900 ft). It is closely related to Juniperus oxycedrus of the Mediterranean region and Juniperus cedrus of the neighboring Macaronesian islands. It is threatened by habitat loss.

<i>Juniperus pinchotii</i> Species of conifer

Juniperus pinchotii, commonly known as Pinchot juniper or redberry juniper, is a species of juniper native to south-western North America, in Mexico: Nuevo León and Coahuila, and in the United States: south-eastern New Mexico, central Texas, and western Oklahoma.

<i>Juniperus rigida</i> Species of conifer

Juniperus rigida, the temple juniper, is a species of juniper, native to northern China, Mongolia, Korea, Japan, and the far southeast of Russia, occurring at altitudes of 10–2,200 metres (33–7,218 ft). The species is also naturalized in the United States. It is closely related to Juniperus communis and Juniperus conferta, the latter sometimes treated as a variety or subspecies of J. rigida.

<i>Juniperus semiglobosa</i> Species of juniper

Juniperus semiglobosa, the Himalayan pencil juniper, is a species of juniper native to the mountains of Central Asia, in northeastern Afghanistan, westernmost China (Xinjiang), northern Pakistan, southeastern Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, western Nepal, northern India, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. It grows at altitudes of 1,550–4,420 metres.

<i>Juniperus standleyi</i> Species of conifer

Juniperus standleyi is a species of juniper native to Guatemala and the adjacent extreme southeast of Mexico, where it occurs at elevations of 3,000–4,250 metres. Its local common names include huitó, cipres, and huitum.

Juniperus taxifolia is a species of juniper, endemic to the Bonin Islands southeast of Japan.

<i>Juniperus tibetica</i> Species of conifer

Juniperus tibetica, the Tibetan juniper, is a species of juniper, native to western China in southern Gansu, southeastern Qinghai, Sichuan, and Tibet Autonomous Region, where it grows at high to very high altitudes of 2,600–4,900 metres. This species has the highest known elevation treeline in the northern hemisphere.

<i>Juniperus deltoides</i> Species of plant

Juniperus deltoides, the Eastern prickly juniper, is a species of juniper native to the eastern Mediterranean. Although it is sometimes considered a subspecies of Juniperus oxycedrus, phylogenetic studies have found the two are not closely related.

<i>Juniperus navicularis</i> Species of plant

Juniperus navicularis, the Portuguese prickly juniper, is a species of juniper endemic to the southwestern Iberian Peninsula. Although it is sometimes considered a subspecies of the Mediterranean Juniperus oxycedrus, phylogenetic studies have found the two are not closely related.

<i>Juniperus lutchuensis</i> Species of conifer

Juniperus lutchuensis or Ryūkyū juniper is a species of juniper native to the Ryūkyū Islands, Izu Islands, Izu Peninsula, and Bōsō Peninsula, Japan.

References

  1. Farjon, A. (2013). "Juniperus macrocarpa". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2013: e.T16348745A16348765. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T16348745A16348765.en . Retrieved 27 January 2024.
  2. Muñoz-Reinoso, José Carlos (6 May 2004). "Diversity of maritime juniper woodlands". Forest Ecology and Management. 192 (2–3): 267–276. doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2004.01.039.
  3. 1 2 3 Adams, R. P. (2004). Junipers of the World. Trafford. ISBN   1-4120-4250-X
  4. 1 2 3 Farjon, A. (2005). Monograph of Cupressaceae and Sciadopitys. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. ISBN   1-84246-068-4
  5. Sánchez-Gullon, E.; Javier Nieva, F.; Muñoz Rodríguez, A.F. (2015). "El enebro costero, novedad para Portugal". Conservación Vegetal. 19: 4.
  6. Arboretum de Villardebelle: photos of cones and shoots
  7. Adams, R. P. (2000). Systematics of Juniperus section Juniperus based on leaf essential oils and RAPD DNA fingerprinting. Biochem. Syst. Ecol. 28: 515-528. available online (pdf file) Archived 2011-07-21 at the Wayback Machine
  8. Adams, R. P., Morris, J. A., Pandey, R. N., & Schwarzbach, A. E. (2005). Cryptic speciation between Juniperus deltoides and J. oxycedrus (Cupressaceae) in the Mediterranean. Biochem. Syst. Ecol. 33: 771-787. available online (pdf file)

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