↑ arvau

Wikipedia / Juniperus flaccida

Juniperus flaccida (known as drooping juniper, weeping juniper, Mexican juniper, or tláscal) is a large shrub or small tree reaching (rarely to 15 m) tall. It is native to central and northern Mexico (from Oaxaca northward) and the extreme southwest of Texas, United States (Brewster County). It grows at moderate altitudes of , on dry soils.

The bark is brown, with stringy vertical fissuring. The shoots are strongly pendulous, 1–1.2mm diameter, and often borne in flattened sprays (the only juniper commonly showing this character). The leaves are arranged in opposite decussate pairs; the adult leaves are scale-like, 2–4mm long (to 7mm on lead shoots) and 1–1.5mm broad. The juvenile leaves (on young seedlings only) are needle-like, 5–10mm long. The cones are berry-like, 8–20mm in diameter, green maturing brown, and contain 6-12 seeds (the most seeds per cone of any juniper); they are mature in about 18 months. The male cones are 3–5mm long, and shed their pollen in spring. It is largely dioecious, producing cones of only one sex on each tree.

There are three varieties, not accepted as distinct by all authorities:

  • Juniperus flaccida var. flaccida. Throughout the range of the species. Cones 9–15mm diameter, with inconspicuous scale margins.

  • Juniperus flaccida var. martinezii. Restricted to a small area in Jalisco. Cones 6–8mm diameter, with inconspicuous scale margins.

  • Juniperus flaccida var. poblana. Throughout the southern two thirds of the range of the species. Cones 12–20mm diameter, with conspicuous scale margins.

References