The Volatile Leaf Oils of the Junipers of Guatemala and Chiapas, Mexico: Juniperus comitana, Juniperus gamboana, and Juniperus standleyi

Abstract

Three juniper species are native to Guatemala and Chiapas, Mexico: Juniperus comitana Mart., Juniperus gamboana Mart., andJuniperus standleyi Steyermark (l).Each of these species is endemic to the high mountains along the border of Guatemala and Chiapas, Mexico (2 ).J. comitana occurs on limestone hills, in pine-oak and Ficus-Acacia forests in the mountains of Chiapas, and on rocky hills in Guatemala at 1300-2300 m elevation (1,2). J. gamboana grows on limestone at 1670-2200 m in Chiapas and Departmento Huehuetenago, Guatemala (1,2). J. standleyi is found above timberline on Volcano Tacana in Chiapas and at elevations of 3000 m or higher in Departamento Huehuetenago, Guatemala (1,2). The ranges of these taxa are very restricted, and these species apparently have been isolated from the other junipers of the western hemisphere since Tertiary times (3). Although a recent study found prominantJuniperus pollen deposits in lake sediments dated at 8,815 and 10,750 b.p. ( 4), the geographically closest extant juniper population to the Pleistocene deposits is J. comitana, 200 km south and west at Baja Verapaz and Chiapas (4). Leyden (4) postulated that J. comitana descended 500 to 1000 m during arid portions of the Pleistocene in Guatemala. In any case, the ranges of these three taxa ofJuniperus have not been extensive in recent geological time.Although we have previously reported on the terpenoid similarities via numerical taxonomic procedures (3), this paper presents the first detailed identification of the steam-volatile leaf oil components of these junipers.

Morphological versus molecular markers to describe variability in Juniperus excelsa subsp. excelsa (Cupressaceae)

“…Jang et al 2005; Ruisi et al 2011). This is also the case for juniper taxa like Juniperus thurifera (Gauquelin et al 1988; Barbero et al 1994; Adams et al 2003; Romo and Boratyński 2007; Terrab et al 2008) and Juniperus pheonicia (Adams 2008; Boratyński et al 2009). …”

“…(Grecian juniper) is an arborescent juniper that can reach 20–25 m in height (Farjon 2005, 2010; Schulz et al 2005; Adams 2008). It is slow growing, monoecious or dioecious, and wind pollinated (Farjon 2005; Adams 2008), with seeds dispersed by gravity or at longer distances by birds and small mammals (Jordano 1992; Santos et al 1999). It is a pioneer species, light demanding, with a high resistance to severe drought, cold conditions and shallow, degraded soils (Zohary 1973; Browicz 1982; Mayer and Aksoy 1986; Quézel and Médail 2003; Magyari et al 2008; Ozkan et al 2010).…”

“…polycarpos (K. Koch) Takht., found further to the east with a Transcaucasian-Central-Asian distribution. Adams (2008), based on random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) molecular markers, considers these two taxa as separate species, J. excelsa and J. polycarpos , respectively.

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Chemical Studies of Leaf Essential Oils of Three Species ofJuniperusFrom Tensift Al Haouz-Marrakech Region (Morocco)

“…The genus Juniperus L. consists of approximately 67 species and 28 varieties (1). Several of the Mediterranean Juniperus species J. oxycedrus L., J. phoenicea L. and J. thurifera L. grow in the mountains of the northern part of Africa (Morocco, Algeria) (2).…”

“…badia (H. Gay) Debeaux, with the first one being the most abundant (15). However, in the recent monograph of Juniperus (Adams, 2004) (17) and Adams (18). The leaf oil was dominated by a-pinene and cedrol with moderate amounts of dihydro-p-cymen-8-ol, a-terpineol and d-cadinene.…”