Sandarac Tree

Appearance

It is a small, slow-growing tree, to 6–15 m tall and 0.5 m trunk diameter, often with two or more trunks from the base. The foliage forms in open sprays with scale-like leaves 1–8 mm long and 1–1.5 mm broad; the leaves are arranged in opposite decussate pairs, with the successive pairs closely then distantly spaced, so forming apparent whorls of four. The cones are 10–15 mm long, green ripening brown in about 8 months from pollination, and have four thick scales arranged in two opposite pairs. The seeds are 5–7 mm long and 2 mm broad, with a 3–4 mm broad papery wing on each side.

It is one of only a small number of conifers able to coppice, an adaptation to survive wildfire and moderate levels of browsing by animals. Old trees that have sprouted repeatedly over a long period form large burls at the base, known as "lupias".

Distribution

It is native to northwestern Africa in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia, with two small outlying populations on Malta, and near Cartagena in southeast Spain in Europe. It grows at relatively low altitudes in a hot, dry subtropical Mediterranean climate.

Habitat

It is native to northwestern Africa in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia, with two small outlying populations on Malta, and near Cartagena in southeast Spain in Europe. It grows at relatively low altitudes in a hot, dry subtropical Mediterranean climate.

Evolution

A related extinct species, "Tetraclinis salicornioides," has leaf and cone fossils of Messinian age that have been uncovered in Monte Tondo and Borgo Tossignano, northern Apennines, Italy.

Uses

It is the national tree of Malta, where it is known as "għargħar". It is now being used locally in afforestation projects.

The resin, known as sandarac, is used to make varnish and lacquer; it is particularly valued for preserving paintings.

The wood, known as thuya wood, citron wood, and alerce, and historically also known as thyine wood, is used for decorative woodwork, particularly wood from burls at the base of the trunk. It has been used thus since antiquity, and was used to make valuable furniture in the time of the Roman Empire. The market in Morocco is unsustainable, focusing as it does on the burl, and has resulted in mass deforestation of the species. The species is also threatened by overgrazing, which can kill the coppice regrowth before it gets tall enough to be out of the reach of livestock.