Stand in Jety-Ogyz, Kirgizstan (Vladimir Dinets, e-mail 2000.01.30).
Photos browser at iNaturalist.
Juniperus pseudosabina
Turkestan juniper, Xinjiang juniper, Kunlun juniper, dwarf black juniper; Можжевельник ложноказацкий, Можжевельник туркестанский [Russian]; 新疆方枝柏 xinjiang fangzhibai, 昆 仑方枝柏 Kunlun fangzhibai [Chinese].
See the Juniperus cladogram; J. pseudosabina occupies its own subclade in the larger of the two clades of turbinate-cone Asian junipers. Studies using random amplification of polymorphic DNA have shown that taxa formerly described as J. pseudosabina, J. centrasiatica and J. turkestanica form a continuum of variation, with variability between populations of comparable magnitude to variability between species. These results are supported by terpene analyses. Published morphological distinctions between the three taxa are either inconclusive, or incorrect as shown by observations of the taxa in their native range and by inspection of herbarium material (lectotypes). These lines of evidence also fail to support the variety J. pseudosabina var. turkestanica. In contrast, the same analysis supported segregation of Juniperus indica as a valid species (Adams and Turuspekov 1998).
Synonymy (Farjon 1998):
Type: Kazakhstan, Dzhungarskiy Alatau, Tarbagatay Mts., A. G. von Schrenk s.n.
Primarily dioecious (decumbent) shrubs or small trees to 10 m tall, 100 cm dbh, with a dense spreading or irregular crown of ascending, assurgent or spreading branches. Bark on larger stems shaggy, exfoliating in short strips remaining partly attached, weathering grey-brown. Twigs numerous, short, stiff. Foliage-bearing twigs thick, quadrangular(-terete), 1.5-2 mm thick, covered with appressed leaves (sometimes free at the apices). Leaves on mature plants primarily scale-like, decussate, imbricate, decurrent, 1.3-2 × 1-1.2 mm, triangular-rhombic, obtuse, on older twigs up to 4 × 1.5 mm, also mostly appressed; margins entire or sometimes minutely and intermittently denticulate; stomata in 2 conspicuous short bands on each side, mostly near the base; outer surface of scale leaves bear a central, oblong gland in a groove (but sometimes absent); leaves green or yellowish green, sometimes slightly glaucous. Pollen cones numerous, solitary, terminal on short twigs, subglobose to globose, 2-3 mm long, with 6-8 decussate, peltate-cordate microsporophylls, with rounded entire hyaline margins, bearing 2-3 pollen sacs. Seed cones terminal on short erect twigs, maturing in the second season, ovoid, 8-14 × 7-10 mm, lustrous blue-black or purplish black and soft. Bract-scale complexes 4-6, decussate, entirely fused; bract tip ca. 0.5 mm; surface smooth; scale tissue succulent, resinous. Seeds 1 per cone, ovoid-ellipsoid, laterally compressed, 6-8 × 4.5-6.5 mm, shallowly grooved, light brown (Farjon 2010).
Afghanistan (Takhar), China (Xinjiang), Kazakhstan (southern mountains), Kirgyzstan, Mongolia, Pakistan (Baltistan, Hindu Kush, Karakoram Range), Tadjikistan, Uzbekistan (Turkestan Range). Found at elevations of 1950 to 4100 m on various substrates, from coarse gravel terraces to dry loess slopes. The climate is extreme continental with short, hot, dry summers and long, cold, snowy winters. A shift from erect to decumbent shrubs from west to east in its range may be due to both climatic factors and grazing pressure. Occurs in subalpine conifer forest with Picea schrenkiana, Pinus sibirica, or P. wallichiana; also in juniper woodland with J. semiglobosa, and in montane to subalpine scrubland and steppe (predominantly Seriphidium maritimum steppe), with species such as J. sabina, Cotoneaster, Kobresia capillifolia, Rhododendron anthopogon, Rosa, and Salix (Farjon 2010).
Hardy to Zone 4 (cold hardiness limit between -34.3°C and -28.9°C) (Bannister and Neuner 2001).
Komarov (1968) says it can reach 500 years, but provides no evidence.
As a shrub growing in habitats where trees are reasonably common, it seems to see limited exploitation for firewood or timber. It would make an attractive ornamental, but remains rare in cultivation (Farjon 2010).
The epithet means "similar to J. sabina," which occurs in the same geographic area.
Adams, Robert P. and Yerlan Turuspekov. 1998. Taxonomic reassessment of some Central Asian and Himalayan scale-leaved taxa of Juniperus (Cupressaceae) supported by random amplification of polymorphic DNA. Taxon 47: 75-83.
Farjon, Aljos. 2010. A Handbook of the World's Conifers. Leiden, Netherlands: Brill Academic Publishers.
Fisch. & C. A. Mey., Index Sem. Hort. Petrop.8 (r8+r): 24,65.t842.
Komarov, V. L., ed. 1968. Flora of the U.S.S.R., trans. by the Israel Program for Scientific Translations. V. 1, p. 144, at the Biodiversity Heritage Library, accessed 2020.01.22 (as J. turkestanica).
Farjon (2005) provides a detailed account, with illustrations.
Last Modified 2023-03-03
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