Reevaluation of the biological status of Juniperus Deppeana var. sperryi Correll.

Foliage and bark samples were collected from the tree that provided the type specimen for Juniperus deppeana var. sperryi Correll, as well as from trees from populations of J. pinchotii Sudw., J. flacida Schl., and J. deppeana Steud. var. deppeana. These four taxa were compared using terpenoid and morphological characters. The terpenoid data suggest that J. deppeana var. sperryi is most closely related to J. deppeana var. deppeana; no evidence of relict or present hybridization with J. flaccida was detected. The morphological data showed J. deppeana var. sperryi to be intermediate in several characters between J. deppeana var. deppeana and J. flacdda. The probability of a hybrid origin for this taxon is discussed. Due to the scattered occurrence of trees referable to J. deppeana var. sperryi, it is proposed that this taxon be reduced in rank to J. deppeana forma sperryi. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]