Juniperus comitana

Martínez (1944)

Common names

Cedro, cipres, sicop [Baja Verapaz, Guatemala], bac'il nuhkupat [Tzeltal at Tenejapa, Chiapas], Comitan juniper (Zanoni and Adams 1979).

Taxonomic notes

Type locality in Chiapas, 12 km S of Comitan (Zanoni and Adams 1979).

Description

Trees to 10 m tall, usually with a single trunk branching several meters above base. Crown rounded or broadly pyramidal. Bark light ash-brown, about 5 mm thick, exfoliating in long strips. Terminal branchlets ascending to erect, branch tips straight, red-brown with scaly bark. Angle of branching on ultimate twigs 35-45°. Scale leaves green, mostly opposite, ovate with appressed acuminate tips, 1.5-2 mm long, margin finely toothed (requires a 20X hand lens); very slender ultimate branchlets (less than 1 mm thick); very weak odor due to unusually low terpenoid content (Zanoni and Adams 1979).

Distribution and Ecology

Mexico: Chiapas, Hidalgo; Guatemala: Baja Verapaz, Huehuetenango, Zacapa. Occurs at 1300-1775(-2300) m elevation on dry, rocky slopes or canyons with shrubs or in sparse woodland, usually on limestone or dolomite. Commonly in Pinus-Quercus or Acacia-Ficus woodlands (Zanoni and Adams 1979, Farjon 2005).

Remarkable Specimens

No data as of 2026-01-29.

Ethnobotany

No data as of 2026-01-29.

Observations

No data as of 2026-01-29.

Remarks

The epithet refers to the type locality near Comitan, Chiapas.

Citations

Martínez, M. 1944. Anal. Inst. Biol. Mexico 15:12-13.

See also

The species account at Threatened Conifers of the World.

Farjon (2005) provides a detailed account, with illustrations.