Comparative wood anatomy of Juniperus from Macaronesia

Abstract

The wood anatomy of the three species of Juniperus occurring in Macaronesia is compared for the first time using representative samples of each species collected in its natural region of provenance: J. cedrus Webb & Berthel and J. phoenicea L. var. canariensis Guyot, in the Canary Islands, and J. brevifolia (Seub.) Antoine, in the Azores. The three species are anatomically similar, although some qualitative differences were observed: distribution of axial parenchyma very scarce in J. phoenicea compared with the other two species, presence of crassulae only in J. phoenicea, presence of torus extensions and notches on pit borders in the radial walls of J. brevifolia, and ray parenchyma end walls slightly nodular in J. cedrus as opposed to very nodular in J. phoenicea and J. brevifolia. In addition, the biometry of tracheid pit diameter in the radial walls, ray height in number of cells, and largest and smallest diameters of cross-field pits shows differences for a significance level of 95%. © Copyright 2014 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands.