Juniperus formosana

Scientific name: Juniperus formosana  Hayata  1908

Common names: Formosan juniper, Taiwan juniper, Prickly cypress, Ci bai (Chinese)

Description

Shrubby, usually multistemmed tree to 5(-16) m tall, with trunk to 40 cm in diameter. Bark gray-brown, peeling in longitudinal strips. Crown narrow, with spreading or rising branches. Branchlets triangular, drooping. Adult leaves in alternating trios, needlelike, jointed at their attachment to the stem, (4-)12-25 mm long, 1-2 mm wide, with two prominent white stomatal bands above, green or waxy blue-green and with a central ridge beneath, sharp-pointed. Pollen and seed cones on separate plants. Pollen cones single in the leaf axils, egg-shaped, 1.5-2 mm long, with five or six alternating trios of pollen scales. Seed cones single on a short stalk in the leaf axils, spherical or somewhat elongate, (6-)8-10(-12) mm long, orange to reddish brown, without a waxy coating, maturing in 2 years, the top with three radiating furrows between the seed scales. Seeds three, 3-4 mm long, light brown, with three or four resin pockets in the basal attachment scar.

Widespread in China, from eastern Xizang (Tibet) and Gansu to Jiangsu and Guangdong, central ranges of Taiwan. Understory tree in conifer and mixed forests of mountains, primarily Chamaecyparis forests in Taiwan; (400-)2,300-3,000(-4,000) m.

Conservation Status

Red List Category & Criteria: Least Concern

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.