Geographic variation and systematics of Juniperus phoenicea L. from Madeira and the Canary Islands: SNPS from nrDNA and petN-psbM

Abstract

SNPs from nrDNA and petN-psbM (cpDNA) were analyzed of Juniperus phoenicea from Madeira, Canary Islands, Morocco, and El Penon, Spain along with J. p. var. turbinata from the Tarifa sand dunes,Spain. The analysis of the 18 SNPs revealed that the Macaronesian and Moroccan plants are identical or nearly so to J. p. var. turbinata and quite differentiated from J. phoenicea var. phoenicea. In contrast, the leaf terpenoids showed that the oils of the Macaronesian plants are more similar to the Moroccan plants and not as similar to J. phoenicea or J. p. var. turbinata. At present, it seems prudent to treat the Madeira and Canary Island plants as J. p. var. turbinata.