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Juniperus oxycedrus

December 20th, 2024 No comments

The Juniperus group oxycedrus consists of needle-leaved junipers with red cones found across the Mediterranean Basin (South Europe and North Africa), including the Macaronesian islands. This group includes the following taxa:

  • J. oxycedrus spp. oxycedrus, common in shrublands of the western Mediterranean Basin (e.g., coastal mountains of the eastern of Iberia)
  • J. oxycedrus spp. badia, in shrublands and woodlands of Iberia (mainly in the central and western part) and Northern Africa
  • J. macrocarpa, on sandy coastal ecosystems around the Mediterranean Basin
  • J. cedrus, J. maderensis in Canary Is. and Madeira Is. (Macaronesian needle-leaved junipers)

A recent study using phylogenomics [1] suggests that:

  • There are different taxa within what we call J. oxycedrus ssp. macrocarpa, probably there is an Eastern Mediterranean clade and a Western Mediterranean clade. This require further research.
  • J. oxycedrus spp. oxycedrus and J. oxycedrus ssp. badia are not sister taxa; badia diverged from oxycedrus about 7 Ma (Fig. 1). Morphologically they are quite similar, with a tendency for badia to have larger leaves and cones. 
  • J. maderensis and J. cedrus are within the clade of J. oxycedrus and thus are better-considered subspecies (Fig. 1). If considered as species, then the other taxa should also be considered at the species level (J. oxycedrus, J. badia; as proposed in [1]).
  • Macaronesian junipers are closer to badia than to the other taxa; they diverged from badia ca. 5.6 Ma
Fig. 1. Phylogenetic relationships between the taxa related to Juniperus oxycedrus. Axis is in millions of years. EM and WM refer to the eastern and western Mediterranean basin. Based on [1].

References

[1] Gutiérrez-Larruscain D, Vargas P, Fernández-Mazuecos M, Pausas JG. 2024. Phylogenomic analysis reveals the evolutionary history of Paleartic needle-leaved junipers. Mol. Phylogen. Evol. 199:108162 [doi | pdf]