Juniperus rigida
Hedgehog juniper (Juniperus rigida)
The hedgehog - juniper (Juniperus rigida ) is a plant from the family of cypress family ( Cupressaceae ). It is native to China, eastern Russia, Korea and Japan.
Description
The hedgehog - juniper grows as evergreen shrub or small tree that can reach the stature heights of up to 10 meters and diameter at breast height of up to 45 centimeters. The thin and scaly bark is colored brown in young trees. With age, it turns gray and furrowed. The crown is shaped pyramidal or cylindrical and is formed of branches, the straight or ascending depart from the trunk. The hanging thin branches have a triangular cross section and a red-brown, hairless bark.
The dark green, rigid needles are linear - acicular shaped with a length from 1 to 2.8 inches and a width of about 1 millimeter. You are a threesome together in whorls. Its cross section is V-shaped. The tip is pointed and prickly. The needle base is deep and keeled on the needle top, there is a narrow white Stomataband.
The hedgehog - juniper is dioecious ( dioecious ), rarely monoecious ( monoecious ). The flowering period includes the month of April; the seeds ripen towards the end of the second or in the summer of the third year. The yellowish- green male cones are at a diameter of 3 to 5 mm spherical to elliptical-shaped Stand in Dreierwirteln and contain nine to twelve Mikroporophylle with four to seven pollen sacs. The stalked short, berry -like cones are globose to ovoid shaped with a diameter of 6 to 10 millimeters. The stems are densely covered with small scales leaves. At first, the pins are colored green. When ripe they turn out light brown, blue or blue- black with a blue-green tint and give off a strong smell of resin. Each pin includes two to three brown seeds. The resinous seeds are formed oblong to triangular with a length of approximately 6 millimeters and a width of about 3 millimeters. Each seed has three or four teeth.
The chromosome number is 2n = 22
Distribution and location
The natural range of the Hedgehog juniper is located in China, Korea, Southeast Russia and Japan. He arrives in China in the provinces of Gansu, northern Hebei, Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Nei Mongol, Ningxia, Qinghai, Shanxi and Shaanxi. In Japan, the circulation area covers the islands of Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku North, North and Central Kyushu, and furthermore, the Ryukyu Islands. In Russia you can find the kind in the southern Primorye, Kamchatka and Sakhalin.
The hedgehog - juniper grows at altitudes 100-2200 m. There he grows primarily in dry mountain areas and along seashores on limestone and sandy soils.
Use
The hedgehog - juniper is planted among other things as ornamental tree.
System
The first description as Juniperus rigida was made in 1846 by Philipp Franz von Siebold and Joseph Gerhard Zuccarini in treatises of Mathematics and Physics Classe Royal Bavarian Academy of Sciences 4 (3 ), page 233 A synonym for Juniperus rigida Siebold & Zucc. is Juniperus utilis Koidz ..
The species is divided in to two sub- types:
- Juniperus rigida subsp. conferta ( Parl ) Kitami comes in China, Sakhalin, Hokkaido, Honshu and Kyushu. A synonym is Juniperus conferta Parl.
- Juniperus rigida subsp. rigida is the nominate form. It occurs in the remaining area of distribution.
Threats and conservation
The hedgehog - juniper is " not threatened " on the Red List of IUCN. It is noted, however, that a re-examination of risk is necessary.
Swell
- Template: Internet resource / maintenance / access date not in ISO format Christopher J. Earle: Juniperus rigida. In: The Gymnosperm Database. www.conifers.org, December 12, accessed on 8 January 2012 ( English).
- Liguo Fu Yong -fu Yu, Robert P. Adams & Aljos Farjon: Cupressaceae. Juniperus. In: Wu Zhengyi, Peter H. Raven & Hong Deyuan (eds.): Flora of China. Cycadaceae through Fagaceae. Volume 4, Science Press and Missouri Botanical Garden Press, Beijing and St. Louis in 1999, ISBN 0-915279-70-3, Juniperus rigida, S. 71 ( this printed work is the same text online, Juniperus rigida - Online).