Illustrations of Conifers. 13 



JUNIPERUS PHCENICEA (Linncem). 



Sp. PL p. 1040 (1753). 



Veitch's Man. Conif. ed. 2, p. 182 (1900). 



Tree* of Great Britain and Ireland, Vol. VI. p. 1424 (1912). 



A shrub or tree attaining about 20 feet in height. Leaves on 

 young plants and rarely on isolated branches of adult trees, 

 acicular, spreading in whorls of three, decurrent, about J inch 

 long, with two lines of stomata on both the upper and lower 

 surfaces. On adult trees branchlet systems two- to three-pinnate; 

 ultimate branches terete ; leaves scale-like, either in four ranks in 

 opposite pairs, or in six ranks in alternating whorls of three, ap- 

 pressed, ovate, rhombic, about ^ inch long, blunt at the apex, 

 serrulate in the margin, furrowed on the back. 



Flowers monoecious or rarely dioecious. Fruit very variable in 

 size and shape ; globose or sub-globose, | to inch in diameter ; 

 ripening in the second year, on short scaly stalks ; shining yellow 

 or reddish -brown, composed of 6 to 8 scales with no distinct lines 

 of separation, and each marked by a minute or obsolete mucro. 

 Seeds 3 to 9, shining brown, embedded in fibrous yellow flesh, tri- 

 angular, furrowed, with two or three depressions for glands. 



Juniperus phoenicea grows in arid situations on rocky hills and is 

 widely distributed throughout the Mediterranean region. It ascends 

 in the Riviera to 4,500 feet. In Algeria where it is often the 

 only arborescent vegetation it ascends to 6,000 feet. In the Canary 

 Isles it attains a great age and an enormous size, one of the 

 largest trees there being reputed to be 1,000 years old. 



Aiton states that Juniperus phcenicea was first cultivated in 

 Britain in 1683 by James Sutherland, Curator of the Edinburgh 

 Botanic Garden. It is now rare in this country. 



The illustration represents a specimen from a tree at Highnam 

 Court, Gloucester. 



