Juniperus communis L. subsp. hemisphaerica (C. Presl) Nyman
J. hemisphaerica C. Presl
Eng.: Common juniper. Spa.: Enebro rastrero. Fre.: Genévrier commun. Ara.: Taga. Tam.: Tamerbut, taarka, ir’en.
Evergreen shrub, dioecious, of stunted appearance, which can measure up to 1.5 m in height —exceptionally reaching up to 2.5 m— and several meters in diameter. Under extreme conditions of high mountains, its shape is that of a hemispherical bush. Trunk very tortuous, generally branching from the base. Bark red-brown, that can easily detach into small flaky plates. Leaves born in whorls of 3, very close to each other, giving the bush a very dense appearance; acicular, rigid, spiky, ± flat, green, upper side of the leaf blade with a wide white longitudinal band; small in size (4-12 × 1.3-2 mm). Male cones ovoid, yellow, born solitary in leaf axils of male plants. Female plants produce female cones or galbuli, small (6-10 mm), fleshy and subglobose, blackish, covered, like the leaves, by a distinctive bluish-white waxy powder.
Flowering:
In spring.
Fruiting:
In the autumn of the second or third year.
Habitat:
In limestone and siliceous soils of high mountains (1,500-3,300 m), often above the treeline (Cedar forests).
Distribution:
Iberian, Italian and Balkan peninsulas. In North Africa it is common in Algeria (Djurdjura and Aures Massif) and less frequent in Morocco [eastern Middle Atlas (massifs of Bu-Iblan and Tichukt), eastern High Atlas (Jebel Ighil, Jebel Masker, Jebel Ayachi) and very rare in the western Rif (Jebel Lakraa, Jebel Tissuka).
Observations:
The creeping habit of this juniper is mainly due to the habitat conditions where it grows rather than its optimum development. Thus, in the bare rocky peaks, above the treeline, its habit is clearly prostrate, not exceeding 1 m high, but when it grows in the forest, its height frequently doubles; and possibly, in the past, larger specimens would not have been rare. In Europe, relatives of the subsp. communis, with better habitat conditions, can reach up to 15 m in height.
This juniper tree, growing close to the ground and its sharp leaves, protects cedar seedlings and other species during the first years of their development against livestock and summer drought. It is considered a protective plant.
Conservation status:
Despite being a very rare (and threatened) taxon and well known in North Africa for more than a century, in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species this species is not cited, nor it is mentioned as a subspecies nor its presence mentioned in North Africa. The species is listed at a global level as Least Concern (LC) (Farjon, 2013). In North Africa the subspecies should be assessed separately, and given the few and small populations that survive here, in their interglacial high mountain refuges, it could be assessed under a category of threat. In Algeria it is included in the List of protected non cultivated flora (Executive Decree 12-03 on 4-Jan-2012).