GEOGRAPHIC VARIATION IN JUNIPERUS SILICICOLA AND J. VIRGINIANA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN UNITED STATES: MULTIVARIATE ANALYSES OF MORPHOLOGY AND TERPENOIDS

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Abstract
Summary: Natural populations of Juniperus silicicola were sampled from throughout the recorded range along the coast of North America. Additional populations of J. virginiana from inland sites were sampled. Morphological characters which have traditionally been used to separate the two taxa were measured along with analyses of the volatile leaf terpenoids. These data were analyzed by canonical variate analysis and contour mapping of the canonical variates. The amount of variation among inland populations of J. virginiana was comparable to the divergence of J. silicicola. The volatile leaf oils differed only quantitatively for a few components. Characters used in keys (female cone size, leaf tip shape) were not significantly different between the taxa. The populations in Texas, previously treated as J. silicicola, were found to be J. virginiana in both their morphology and chemistry. Some inter‐gradation was found between the Macon, Georgia and Brunswick, Georgia populations. The coastal, foredune juniper of the southeastern United States (J. silicicola), being circumscribed within the range of variation encountered within J. virginiana, is treated as a varietas (J. virginiana var. silicicola (Small) Silba).