Juniperus excelsa ssp. polycarpos

Cupressaceae Juniperus excelsa ssp. polycarpos (K.Koch) Takht.

Etymology
Juniperus refers to the Latin name for junipers.
excelsa refers to ‘high’; possibly indicating the relatively large habit of this tree compared to other Juniperus species in Europe.
polycarpos refers to ‘many seeds’; possibly indicating the tree had lots of cones associated with it when it was named.

Colloquial Name
Persian juniper

Subordinate Taxa
There exist 2 subordinate taxa for Juniperus excelsa:

Distribution

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TDWG Codes
3, 32, KAZ, KGZ, TKM, TZK, UZB, 33, TCS, TCS-AR, TCS-AZ, TCS-GR, 34, AFG, IRN, TUR, 35, OMA, 4, 40, PAK, WHM, WHM-JK

Habitat
The natural habitats for Juniperus excelsa ssp. polycarpos are temperate forests, mediterranean-type shrublands. It is naturally found at an elevation of at least 4000 up to 4000 metres. Other conifers associated with Juniperus excelsa ssp. polycarpos are:

USDA Hardiness zone – 7
Juniperus excelsa ssp. polycarpos is hardy to USDA Zone 7 (Bannister & Neuner, 2001), meaning its frost tolerance lies somewhere in the range of -17.8C (0F) to -12.2C (10F).

Species Continuity
The population trend for Juniperus excelsa ssp. polycarpos is decreasing. There are ongoing threats for Juniperus excelsa ssp. polycarpos and they are listed as follows:

• 1 Habitat Loss & Degradation
  • 1.1 Agriculture & Forestry
• 2 Overexploitation & Resource Use
  • 2.1 Logging & Wood Harvesting

IUCN Category – LC
According to the IUCN Red List, Juniperus excelsa ssp. polycarpos has been assigned the status of LC(Least Concern). This means that according to the Red List criteria, this species is not qualified as threatened.

Superordinate Taxa
The nearest superordinate taxon for Juniperus excelsa is Sect. Sabina. The coordinate taxa for Juniperus excelsa are therefore:

Juniperus excelsa ssp. polycarpos is further placed under Cupressoideae. Juniperus excelsa ssp. polycarpos is also placed under Cupressaceae.