Juniperus taxifolia | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Gymnospermae |
Division: | Pinophyta |
Class: | Pinopsida |
Order: | Cupressales |
Family: | Cupressaceae |
Genus: | Juniperus |
Species: | J. taxifolia
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Binomial name | |
Juniperus taxifolia |
Juniperus taxifolia (Bonin Islands juniper; Japanese: シマムロ Shimamuro) is a species of juniper, endemic to the Bonin Islands southeast of Japan. [2] [3] [4]
It is an evergreen coniferous shrub growing to a height of 1–3 m (rarely a small tree to 13 m tall). The leaves are needle-like, in whorls of three, light green, 7–14 mm long and 1-1.5 mm broad, with a double white stomatal band (split by a green midrib) on the inner surface. It is dioecious, with separate male and female plants. The seed cones are berry-like, green ripening in 18 months to reddish-brown with a variable light waxy coating; they are spherical, 8–10 mm diameter, and have six or nine fused scales in two or three whorls of three; the three larger scales each with a single seed. The seeds are dispersed when birds eat the cones, digesting the fleshy scales and passing the hard seeds in their droppings. The pollen cones are yellow, 5 mm long. [2] [3]
Some authors include Juniperus lutchuensis from the Ryukyu Islands in J. taxifolia as a synonym, [3] or variety, [5] while others treat it as a distinct species as it has a distinct DNA profile. [2]
Its conservation status, previously given as Data Deficient, [1] is now listed as Vulnerable. [4]