Juniperus fargesii

(Rehder & E.H. Wils.) Kom. 1924

Common names

Farges' weeping juniper; 长叶高山柏 changye gaoshanbai [Chinese]; Mожжевельник Фаржа [Russian].

Taxonomic notes

Synonymy (Adams 2014):

• Juniperus squamata var. fargesii Rehder & E. H. Wilson in Sargent 1914;
• J. kansuensis Komarov 1924;
• J. lemeeana H. Lév. & Blin. ex Léveillé 1914-1915;
• Sabina squamata (Buch-Ham. ex D. Don) Antoine var. fargesii (Rehder & E. H. Wilson) L.K. Fu & Y.F. Yu 2000.

Type: Sichuan, China, Chengkou, Tchen keou tin, Rev. P. G. Farges 153.

This taxon was long treated as Juniperus squamata var. fargesii, and Farjon (2010) reduces it to synonymy; but it has somewhat different foliage from J. squamata, with the needes diverging at 60-90° from the twig. Molecular analysis reported by Adams (2014), however places it in a clade sister to most of the other species in the turbinate-seed-cone clade (see the circular cladogram for Juniperus). It should be noted, though, that the molecular analyses have been based upon very few specimens, and this taxonomic placement is certainly subject to change as further work is done with this little-known species.

Description

Dioecious evergreen shrubs and trees to 4 m tall, with a crown of erect branches. Bark light brown, exfoliating in plates or strips. Leaves decurrent but spreading at a 60-90° angle to the twig, straight or slightly curved, 3 mm long. Seed cones green, maturing black after 2 years, ovoid, 5 mm long. Seeds 1 per cone, 4 mm diameter (Fu et al. 1999, Adams 2014).

Distribution and Ecology

China: Anhui, Fujian, Gansu, Guizhou, Shaanxi, Sichuan and Yunnan; in forests and valleys, and on roadsides, at 1,600 to 4,500 m elevation (Fu et al. 1999, Adams 2014).

This variety has not been recognized by the IUCN and thus has no formal conservation status. I can find no evidence that any other authority has assessed its vulnerability.

Remarkable Specimens

No data as of 2023.03.03.

Ethnobotany

Observations

Remarks

The epithet honors the collector, Father Paul Guillaume Farges (1844–1912), a French Catholic missionary who spent much of his life in China. Here he collected thousands of specimens, most of which were sent to Paris. He is also remembered in the fir Abies fargesii.

Citations

Adams, R. P. 2014. Junipers of the World, 4th ed. Vancouver, BC: Trafford Publ. Co.

Farjon, Aljos. 2010. A Handbook of the World's Conifers. Leiden, Netherlands: Brill Academic Publishers.

Komarov, V. L. 1924. De Gymnospermis nonnullis Asiaticis. II. Juniperae (Sabinae) species monospermae Asiaticae. Bot. Mater. Gerb. Glavn. Bot. Sada RSFSR 5:30.

See also