B. Papp szerk.: Studia Botanica Hungarica 29. 1998 (Budapest, 1999)

Debreczy, Zsolt; Rácz, István: The prostrate form of the Phoenician juniper: Juniperus phoenicea L. f. prostrata, f. nov.

DISCUSSION The Phoenician juniper is native to the Mediterranean Basin and adjacent Atlantic coast (Portugal), Asia Minor, Near East and the Arabian Peninsula; also known from the nearby islands of Madeira and the Canary Islands (CARRIERE 1867, FRANCO 1986, KERFOOT and LAVRANOS 1984, LORET and BARRANDON 1876, PARLATORE 1867, 1868, TUTIN et al. 1964, VEITCH and SONS 1900 etc.). It usually occurs on (summer-)dry hills in the often degraded habitats near the coast line, but scattered stands or individuals may be found over 150 kilometres from the sea (JALAS and SUOMINEN I.e., KERFOOT and LAVRANOS I.e.). In its southern distribution it locally ascends the mountains up to 2200 m (BALL 1878, KERFOOT and LAVRANOS I.e., VIDAKOVIC 1982). The climate in most of its range is classical Mediterranean, however, it is also found in some dry submediterranean climate zones, such as parts of Iberia, the southern Balkans, the Near East and North Africa (IV(VII) and IV(III) or III(IV) in WALTER and LIETH 1960-1967). In other locations, its distribution coincides with the cooler, more humid ("too wet") type of submediterranean climate (IV(VI) in WALTER I.e.) such as that found in the southern foothills of the Pyrenees (Fig. 1). The Phoenician Juniper is known to grow up to 6-8 m in height, however, it most frequently is a multi-stemmed, broad conical, upright shrub. Grazing animals often shape it to a low bush so that it almost appears to be a creeping shrub or an upright one with an extended broad base. It has bright red, dark red or reddish-brown cones that vary in shape from globose to ovate. The latter is usually treated as a distinct subspecific taxon of this species: J. ph. var. turbinata (Guss.) Pari, or subsp. turbinata (Guss.) Nyman. It is a low shrub with rather large (up to 14 mm long), ovate cone-berries (strobili). Another form, originally appearing in the Sénéclauze nursery catalogue in 1854 as "7. Myosurus" was re-named by CARRIERE (1867) as "J. ph. filicaulis"

. This form is now usually listed among man-made forms with the cultivar name "Myosurus" (KRÜSSMANN 1955, 1991, MESTERHÁZY 1995, VIDAKOVIC 1982, WELCH and HADDOW 1993). HENKEL and HOCHSTETTER (1865) list '7. phoenicea Lycia Lois.", with the synonym "7. ph. malacocarpd\ as a more shrubby plant with lighter or grayish green scale leaves and smaller and "bluish" (bloomy) cone-berries. They also mention "J. phoenicea filicaulis"

, with "7. Myosurus" added as a synonym, and refer to its elongated scale leaves. An important early discussion of the forms of this juniper was published by CARRIERE (1867) in which four variants were distinguished: 1) /. Lycia, Linn., J. Ph. Lycia, Loud., with among other names listed J. Ph. Malacocarpa, Endl., J. Ph. foemina, Gord. and J. Ph. sclerocarpa, Endl.; 2) J. Ph. expansa; 3) J. Ph. py-