Spanish juniper
Juniperus thurifera
Family · Cupressaceae · Harmless
The tree of the cold dry plateaus of interior Spain, enduring forty degrees in summer and minus fifteen in winter and forming open woodlands found nowhere else in Europe.
Uplands · Scrubland · Fields and pasture
Also known asincense juniper
How to tell it
A tree with a conical or irregular crown, to twenty metres, its trunk often twisted and hollowed by age. Scale leaves pressed tight to the twig, like a cypress, not prickly needles. The young shoots are square in section. Dark blue bloomed cones the size of a pea. Range: mainly a Spanish plant, practically absent from Portugal.
What it is confused with
Savin juniper
Juniperus sabina
Savin never stands up: it spreads along the ground as a carpet and smells strongly foul when crushed. Spanish juniper is an upright tree. Savin is very toxic and is not tasted; neither species is used.
What it is for
The wood is rot-proof and was used in church beams and posts that last centuries. The name comes from the resinous smoke, burned as incense. The Spanish sabinares are a priority European habitat and some specimens are over a thousand years old.
The law says
Sabinares are a priority habitat under the Habitats Directive. Do not cut, and do not take standing deadwood, which is bird and insect habitat.