Juniperus blancoi

Juniperus blancoi is a plant belonging to the family of the cypress family ( Cupressaceae ). It is native to Mexico.

Description

Juniperus blancoi grows as evergreen shrub or small tree that can reach heights of growth of 8-15 meters and diameter at breast height of up to 50 centimeters. The branches go straight or ascending from the base and forming a pyramidal crown that is wider with age or irregular. Loose the branches 0.8 to 1.3 millimeters thick and have a quadrilateral cross -section. The smooth, red-brown or purple bark is gray with time and flakes off in small scales. Thicker stems have a cracked bark. The heartwood is light purple colored to purplish brown.

The scaly, gray to yellow- green needles reach a length of 1.3 to 2 millimeters and a width of 0.7 to 1 millimeter. Your tip is blunt or pointed, and the needle margins are entire. On its surface there are several conspicuous glands, the larger are mostly inactive. The needles are decussate on the branches.

Juniperus is blancoi - dioecious dioecious ( dioecious ) and the cones mature after one to two years. The berry- like cones are at 3 to 6 millimeters long stems and are at a length of 5 to 7 mm and a thickness of 5 to 9 mm spherically shaped to kidney-shaped. At first they are green and change color to maturity towards purple, dark blue or light brown and have a blue-green tint. Each of the fleshy cones carries one to five light-brown seeds. The grooved seeds reach a length of 3 to 5 millimeters and a width of 2 to 4 millimeters. There are small resin pits at their base.

Distribution and location

The natural range of Juniperus blancoi is located in Mexico. It includes where the federal states of Chihuahua, Durango, México, Michoacán, Sonora and Tlaxcala.

Juniperus blancoi thrives at altitudes 1100-3270 meters. One finds the way, especially in dry pinyon pine forests and along river beds growing in pine-oak - juniper - mixed forests. It grows both on rocks and on thin soils that formed on basalt. Especially mucronata var forms mixed stands with the Mexican cypress ( Cupressus lusitanica ), the alligator juniper (Juniperus deppeana ) and various oaks (Quercus ).

System

The first description was in 1946 as Juniperus blancoi by Maximino Martínez in Anales del Instituto de Biología de la Universidad Nacional Autonoma de México, Series Biology, Volume 17, Number 1, page 73

The species is divided into up to three varieties:

  • Juniperus blancoi var blancoi is the nominate form and occurs almost throughout the entire range.
  • Juniperus blancoi var huehuentensis RPAdams, S. González & M.González occurs only in the summit region of the south of Cerro Huachichiles Huehuento in the state of Durango. It only grows as a shrub.
  • Juniperus mucronata var blancoi (RP Adams) Farjon comes along the course of the river Maicoba Rivers before and the neighboring rivers on the border between Sonora and Chihuahua. Your needles are blunt and the heartwood is light purple colored .. It is used by some authors as distinct species Juniperus mucronata RP Adams viewed.

Threats and conservation

Juniperus blancoi is in the IUCN Red List as "vulnerable" out. It is noted, however, that a re-evaluation of risks is required. The variety mucronata is also listed as " endangered". It is believed that there is this variety of less than 1000 grown trees.

Swell

  • Christopher J. Earle: Juniperus blancoi. In: The Gymnosperm Database. www.conifers.org 13 December, 2010, accessed on 12 February 2012 ( English).
Genus Wood#Heartwood and sapwood Chihuahua (state)
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