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.
FURTHER NOTES ON THE HABITAT AND MORPHOLOGY OF THE SPECIES Within most of its distribution J. phoenicea grows under a minimum frost conditions (olive-zone) and is usually regarded as a tender plant in areas of cold winters (KRÜSSMANN 1955, 1991, REHDER 1951, SILVA TAROUCA 1913). However, its frost resistance in cultivation proved to be much higher than would be expected from its present distribution. Specimens cultivated in Central Europe (Budapest and Lake Balaton, Hungary, 10.5 °C, 580-600 mm, with minimums 18-23 °C; 47° N) survived several severe frosts when experimentally grown in (summer-) warm, sun-exposed but not too dry locations. These experiments have demonstrated the species's Arcto-Tertiary origin. In relation to its northern cultivation, it is worth mentioning, that in mild but cool regions the typical reddish colour of the cone-berries (strobili) of the species does not seem to appear. Instead, the cone-berries ripen to green or greenish yellow - some earlier references to the colour of the cone-berries (yellow or yellowish - SILVA TAROUCA 1913, KRUSSMANN 1955, 1991) may have been based on similar observations. In specimens cultivated in the Bedgebury Pinetum in Kent, S England, in the winter of 1975 and 1977, the mature strobili, although fully developed, were found to remain greenish yellow and finely, minutely black-dotted. Also strobili of specimens distributed under the name of J. phoenicea var. turbinata by the Hillier and Sons Nursery nr. Winchester, England in the 70s, and grown in Central Europe (between 1970 and 1995 nr. Siófok, Hungary) ripened to a pale greenish yellow and were minutely black dotted, almost identical to those of the Bedgebury specimens. This and the fact that the authors have never observed reddish cone-berries in the species in its northern limit in cultivation seem to indicate that the colour of the cone-berries is closely connected to the climate, probably the amount of heat, which influences the accumulation of colour pigments in the cone-berry. * * * Acknowledgements. A research trip to southwest Europe in 1995 for the Dendrological Atlas Project (D.A.P.) was supported by the Hungarian Scientific Research Fund (OTKA No. TOI 2759). Additional financial support was received from the International Dendrological Research Institute in Wellesley, Massachusetts, USA. REFERENCES BALL, J. (1878): Scipilegium Florae Maroccanae. -Journ. Linn. Soc. 16: 281-742. CARRIÈRE, É.-A. ( 1867): Traité Général des Conifères. Part 1. - Paris, 510 pp.
