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Juniperus convallium



Juniperus convallium - Twiggy juniper, Mekong juniper

Scientific name: Juniperus convallium  Rehder & E.H.Wilson  1914

Synonyms: Juniperus mekongensis Kom., Juniperus ramulosa Florin, Sabina convallium (Rehder & E.H. Wilson) W.C. Cheng & L.K. Fu, Sabina mekongensis (Kom.) Kom.

Common names:Twiggy juniper, Mekong Juniper, Mi zhi yuan bai (Chinese)

 

Description

Tree to 12(-20) m tall, with trunk to 50 cm in diameter. Bark light gray, peeling in vertical strips. Crown dense, narrow, with upwardly arching branches. Branchlets closely spaced, not angled, slender, ca. 1 mm thick, erect to drooping, sometimes waxy. Adult leaves in alternating pairs or trios, scalelike, 1-1.5(-2) mm long, dull green, often very waxy, with a depressed oil gland on the back, the edges pale and hardened, the tip blunt to pointed, pressed against the twig. Pollen and seed cones on the same or separate plants. Pollen cones nearly spherical, 2-3 mm long, with three or four pairs or pollen scales. Seed cones on a curved stalk, slightly elongated, (4-)6-8(-10) mm long, chestnut brown to almost black, usually without a waxy coating, maturing in 1 year. Seed one, 4-7 mm long, nearly spherical, pitted or furrowed, brown, with a paler attachment scar just at the base.

Southwestern China: southern Gansu to northwestern Yunnan and Xizang (Tibet). Dry mountain slopes; (2,200-)2,500-4,000(-4,430) m.

 

Conservation Status

Red List Category & Criteria: Least Concern

(The species assessment will be driven by the typical variety and so is Least Concern based on the information for that variety)

 

References

Farjon, A. (2010). A Handbook of the World's Conifers. Koninklijke Brill, Leiden.

Eckenwalder, J.E. (2009) Conifers of the World: The Complete Reference. Timber Press, Portland.

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. Cambridge, UK /Gland, Switzerland

 

Copyright © Aljos Farjon, James E. Eckenwalder, IUCN, Conifers Garden. All rights reserved.


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