Juniperus drupacea
Specimen in Madrid, Spain
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Gymnospermae
Division: Pinophyta
Class: Pinopsida
Order: Cupressales
Family: Cupressaceae
Genus: Juniperus
Section: Juniperus sect. Caryocedrus
Species:
J. drupacea
Binomial name
Juniperus drupacea
Natural range

Juniperus drupacea, the Syrian juniper, is a species of juniper native to the eastern Mediterranean region from southern Greece (mount Parnon in the Peloponnese), southern Turkey, western Syria, and Lebanon, growing on rocky sites from 800–1,700 metres (2,600–5,600 feet) in altitude. The species is the sole member of Juniperus sect. Caryocedrus.,[2][3] which is sometimes recognised as genus Arceuthos.[4]

Description

Juniperus drupacea is the tallest species of juniper, forming a conical tree 10–25 metres (33–82 feet) tall, exceptionally up to 40 m (130 ft), and with a trunk up to 1–2 m (3+1⁄2–6+1⁄2 ft) thick. It has needle-like leaves in whorls of three; the leaves are green, 5–25 millimetres (1⁄4–1 in) long and 2–3 mm broad, with a double white stomatal band (split by a green midrib) on the inner surface. It is usually dioecious, with separate male and female plants.

The seed cones are the largest of any juniper, berry-like but hard and dry, green ripening in about 25 months to dark purple-brown with a pale blue waxy coating; they are ovoid to spherical, 20–27 mm (3⁄4–1 in) long and 20–25 mm diameter, and have six or nine fused scales in 2–3 whorls, each scale with a slightly raised apex. The three apical scales each bear a single seed, but with the three seeds fused together into a single nut-like shell. The male cones are produced in clusters (unlike any other juniper) of 5–20 cones together, yellow, 3–4 mm long, and fall soon after shedding their pollen in early spring.

Taxonomy

Because of its distinct cones with the seeds fused three together and the clustered male cones, it has sometimes been treated in a distinct genus of its own as Arceuthos drupacea (Labill.) Antoine & Kotschy, but genetic studies have shown it is fairly closely related to J. macrocarpa and J. oxycedrus.

References

  1. ↑ Gardner, M. (2013). "Juniperus drupacea". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2013: e.T30311A2792553. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T30311A2792553.en. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  2. ↑ Adams, Robert P. & Schwarzbach, Andrea E. (2013). "Phylogeny of Juniperus using nrDNA and four cpDNA regions" (PDF). Phytologia. 95 (2): 179–187. Retrieved 2022-04-22.
  3. ↑ Uckele, Kathryn A.; Adams, Robert P.; Schwarzbach, Andrea E. & Parchman, Thomas L. (2021). "Genome-wide RAD sequencing resolves the evolutionary history of serrate leaf Juniperus and reveals discordance with chloroplast phylogeny". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 156: 107022. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2020.107022. PMID 33242585. S2CID 227182680.
  4. ↑ Yang, Yong; Ferguson, David Kay; Liu, Bing; Mao, Kang-Shan; Gao, Lian-Ming; Zhang, Shou-Zhou; Wan, Tao; Rushforth, Keith; Zhang, Zhi-Xiang (2022). "Recent advances on phylogenomics of gymnosperms and a new classification". Plant Diversity. 44 (4): 340–350. doi:10.1016/j.pld.2022.05.003. PMC 9363647. PMID 35967253.
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