Juniperus thurifera L. subsp. africana (Maire) Gauquelin, Idr.Hass. & P. Lebreton
J. thurifera L. var. africana Maire, J. africana (Maire) Villar.
Eng.: Spanish juniper. Spa.: Sabina albar. Fre.: Genévrier thurifère. Ara.: Araar, fauah. Tam.: Abaual, aïual, adruman, awal, tawalt, takka, tiqui, tiqqui, taualt, tazenzena.
Evergreen tree, dioecious, up to 20 m in height, columnar or rounded in shape, irregular, broadly ovate-conical in young specimens. Trunk generally straight, sometimes tortuous, twisted, up to 3 m in diameter, although Maire (1952) cites a diameter of up to 5 m, with the presence of several basal branches being common. Bark ashen, striated, fissured longitudinally, detaching into narrow strips. Branches thick, ashen. Branchlets flattened, subtetragonal in section, covered in squamiform leaves (1.5-2 mm), ± acute, with a non-scarious margin, imbricate but with a raised apex, giving it a rough touch. Leaves in younger specimens are acicular, as in the rest of the family. Male cones ovoid or oblong, arranged at the end of the branchlets. Female cones or galbuli appear in short side branchlets, subglobose (6-8 mm) black-bluish or dark purple when mature, usually covered with a waxy bluish-white powder, especially when maturing. The type subspecies, which is European, has more tetragonal branches, with leaves more keeled and longer and less appressed, and galbuli slightly larger (6-10 mm).
Flowering:
February to May.
Fruiting:
Throughout the second year, especially in autumn.
Habitat:
Medium and high calcareous and siliceous mountains (1,500-3,300 m). Soils ± dry, extremely continental, with snow and frequent frosts. Grows well between cedars, but ascends much more on the oromediterranean floor, sometimes forming forests above 3,000 m, where other trees can no longer live.
Distribution:
The subsp. africana is present in Morocco and Algeria. Its greatest extent is found in the High Atlas, although its density and health are so critical they could be described as fossil forests, very sparse, with old and mutilated trees, where natural regeneration is practically non existent. In the eastern Middle Atlas it is also well represented. Much rarer in the eastern Anti-Atlas (peaks of the Sargho Massif), where there are still some scattered specimens. In Algeria it is only found in the Aures Massif where it grows in isolated stands frequently between cedar forests, and, as it is grows at higher altitudes than the cedar, in very sparse formations above the altitudinal limit of the forest. As well as in Morocco, natural regeneration is practically non existent.
Conservation status:
It is an increasingly rare and threatened species, due to excessive cutting and overgrazing that prevents natural regeneration. In the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species J. thurifera is listed at a global level as Near Threatened (NT) (Farjon, 2013). In Morocco it is included in its List of native species that need authorization for commercial use (Law 29-2005 and Decree 2-12-484 of 21-May-2015). In Algeria it is included in the List of protected non cultivated flora (Executive Decree 12-03 on 4-Jan-2012).