Juniperus phoenicea

Phoenician juniper (Juniperus phoenicea )

The Phoenician juniper (Juniperus phoenicea ), also called Rotfrüchtiger Juniper, is a species of the family of the cypress family ( Cupressaceae ). It is native to the Mediterranean.

Description

Habit

The Phoenician juniper comes depending on the site conditions before and evergreen shrub or tree. He will be up to 1,000 years old. The broad and bushy shrub reaches stature heights between 3 and 5 meters. The rarer form of a tree reaches heights of growth up to 8 meters and forms a dense crown. The branches that form the crown, can already start very deep. The straight and strong trunk can reach a diameter of up to 2 meters. The longitudinally fissured bark is gray -brown to reddish- brown and dissolves in sheds or narrow strips from the trunk. Because of resin pockets in the inner bark of the trunk gives off an aromatic odor. The shallow root system is able to anchor the tree firmly even on rocky sites. The type is a mycorrhizal partnerships with various types of fungi.

Wood

The brown-yellow heartwood is surrounded by a relatively wide, white to light brown sapwood. The wood is very hard, dense and durable. The density at a moisture content of 12 % is approximately 0.68 g / cm ³.

Foliage

Young trees have bluish-green needle-like leaves. These leaves are 5-14 mm long and 0.5 to 1 mm wide. There are two stomatal rows and a light midrib on the upper leaf surface. The dark green scale leaves of adult trees are located 1 to 1.5 millimeters long and from constantly. This ovate to rhombic -shaped leaves are the branches to close and are square in cross section.

Flowers, cones and seeds

There occur both monoecious ( monoecious ) and dioecious ( dioecious ) on getrenntgeschlechtige populations. The flowering period falls into the early spring. The almost perfectly round male flowers are terminally on branches. The female cones can be positioned terminally or axially. You have more than six intergrown seed scales, each bearing two ovules. The nearly round berry cones ripen in the summer of the second year. They are 7-11 mm in size and are to mature brilliantly colored red or brown. They have no tires. Each berry cones contain four to nine oval, somewhat angular seeds. The seeds are not toxic, they are used in medicine as a remedy.

The seed coat is very hard. Seeds of Phoenician juniper do not germinate until after at least 2 years.

System

The Phoenician juniper is regarded as the only monoecious juniper type in Europe. Because of the marked intraspecific differentiation He was formerly divided into several subspecies and varieties. To change the current scientific studies, and reduce the subdivision, however, on two varieties:

• Juniperus phoenicea var phoenicea: The tips of the branches are hardly skipped. Beer the pin have a diameter of 8 to 10 millimeters.
• Juniperus phoenicea var turbinata Parl has branches whose tips are clearly skipped. Beer reach the pin diameter of 12 to 14 millimeters. The distribution of this variety extends from the Atlantic islands of Madeira and the Canary Islands to Portugal, southern Spain with the Balearic Islands, the Mediterranean coasts of France to the island of Corsica, on Italy with the islands of Sardinia and Sicily and Greece. In North Africa, you can find the variety in Morocco and Tunisia.

Distribution and location

The Phoenician juniper is a circum - Mediterranean tree species. Its distribution extends in Europe from Portugal in the west to Cyprus, Crete, Turkey, Israel further on in the Middle East and Saudi Arabia. In North Africa, you will find the type of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia to the edge of the Sahara and Egypt. The western border of the distribution area runs over Madeira and the Canary Islands. The species occurs throughout Spain prior to the northwest. In Portugal, only the Atlantic coast is populated. They are also found in continental southeastern France. In Corsica, Sardinia, Sicily and the Apennine peninsula, they are found in the mountains. On the Balkan Peninsula, the species occurs only in a narrow strip extending from Dalmatia, Croatia, the former Yugoslavia, Albania on the Peloponnese to the Aegean islands and Crete, before. In North Africa, the stocks were destroyed by overuse mostly.

The Phoenician juniper is heat and cold tolerant and is on the ground only small claims. It occurs at altitudes of up to 2,200 meters and is a pioneer species in need of light of the continental climate. There are colonized both sandy as well as clay, silicate and calcareous soils. The sites have annual rainfall of at least 200 mm.

Diseases and Pests

The Phoenician juniper is seriously compromised neither animal nor vegetable pests. There are no known pests, which specialize only in this way. To plant galls may form, which are caused by a species of the genus Oligotrophus at the branch tips. By the bacterium Pseudomonas syringae is cancerous Zweiganschwellungen develop.

The Phoenician juniper is highly flammable and therefore highly vulnerable to fire.

Use

The fibrillar wood is good for woodturning. Earlier it was used as construction, carpentry and carpentry of wood. This is no longer possible because there is not enough strains of required dimensions are available. Straight trunks are made ​​into veneer for plywood. In Africa, the wood is used as fuel and for making charcoal.

Some of the varieties have a horticultural importance. Can be obtained from the leaves and berry cones an essential oil. The ancient Greek physician Dioscorides Pedanios mentioned in his book Materia Medica the use of essential oils of Juniperus phoenicea and Juniperus sabina, the juniper, used in folk medicine as an abortifacient. Modern research has demonstrated in the case of Sadebaums toxicity.

Threats and conservation measures

The Phoenician juniper is indeed implemented by the World Conservation Union IUCN Red List of endangered species, but not as endangered ( "Least Concern" ) referred. However, a reassessment of the situation is deemed necessary.

With the Fauna-Flora -Habitat Directive Nr.92/43/EWG in the updated version of 1 January 2007, the European Union ( the Habitats Directive ), Annex 1, are protected areas for the following types of habitat, which also belongs to the Phoenician juniper, required:

• Coastal dunes with juniper species Juniperus spp. - The Inschutzstellung these habitats is required as a priority by zuführend
• Tree -shaped Hartlaub thickets ( matorral ) with juniper species Juniperus spp.
• Endemic forests with juniper species Juniperus spp. - The Inschutzstellung these habitats is regarded as a matter of priority