Juniperus sabina L.
Spa.: sabina rastrera. Fre.: genévrier sabine, sabine, sabinier.
Evergreen prostrate shrub, very long-lived, dioecious, that does not usually exceed 1 m in height, although its branches can spread in all directions giving a dense vegetation cover of up to 8-10 m in diameter, giving a characteristic appearance to the high mountain landscape where it lives. Branches numerous with flattened twigs, squamiform leaves, decussate, up to 1.3 mm, ovate, obtuse or subacute, imbricate, with a non-scarious margin. Leaves in younger specimens are acicular, as in the rest of the family, in this species up to 3.5 mm. Male cones ovoid, at the termination of the twigs. The female cones or galbules appear in short lateral twigs, subglobose (4-6 mm) bluish-black or dark purple when ripe, generally covered with a bluish-white waxy powder, especially when they are in the process of maturation.
Flowering:
Late summer to spring.
Fruiting:
Throughout the second year, in autumn and spring.
Habitat:
Medium and high calcareous mountains. Sub-humid and humid climate in the supramediterranean and oromediterranean belts. More or less dry and cold terrain, with winter snow and frequent frosts.
Distribution:
It is a species of the central and southern European mountains that has been cited in North Africa in 3 small populations (with a total of ± 20 ha) in the limestone and calcareous-dolomitic peaks of the Djurdjura Massif (around 1,800 m). Its natural regeneration is very difficult. The overall area of these 3 populations should be declared a very protected area. It has also been cited in the western Rif (on the top of the limestone mountains close to Xaüen), where we have searched unsuccessfully and it no longer appears in recent posts, so its presence here seems doubtful.
Conservation status:
In the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species J. sabina is listed at a global level as Near Threatened (NT) (Farjon, 2013). However, if this species is assessed at a regional level in North Africa it would be listed as Endangered (EN). In Algeria it is included in the List of protected non cultivated flora (Executive Decree 12-03 on 4-Jan-2012).