昆仑方枝柏 kun lun fang zhi bai

Sabina centrasiatica (Komarov) W. C. Cheng & L. K. Fu.

Trees to 15 m tall; crown dense; ultimate branchlets usually glaucous, 4-angled, 1.2-1.5 mm in diam. Leaves grayish green; scalelike leaves decussate, closely appressed, 1.5-2 mm, with a prominent, blunt abaxial ridge, abaxial gland central, often inconspicuous. Pollen cones ovoid or subglobose, 2-3 mm; microsporophylls 6-8, each with 2 or 3 pollen sacs. Seed cones brownish yellow or black-brown when ripe, slightly glaucous, ovoid, 0.9-1.3 cm × 8-10 mm, 1-seeded. Seeds ovoid, slightly flattened, 8-11 × 5-7 mm, base rounded.

Mountain slopes, valleys, river banks; 2600-4000 m. Xinjiang [Afghanistan, Pakistan]

This species is doubtfully distinct from Juniperus pseudosabina (tree form, although the habit is not a good character, as it is ecologically determined). That species, in turn, has very few and minor characters, all of a continuous nature, distinguishing it from J. indica. These three taxa only marginally occur in China (Xinjiang, Xizang, NW Yunnan), where the variation does not match that found in populations outside China surrounding the Xizang plateau.