Phytologia (November 2013) 95(4) 302 The volatile leaf oils of three Juniperus communis varieties from Bulgaria Robert P. Adams Biology Department, Baylor University, Box 97388, Waco, TX 76798, USA Robert_Adams@baylor.edu and Alexander N. Tashev University of Forestry, Dept. of Dendrology 10, Kliment Ochridsky Blvd., 1756 Sofia, Bulgaria ABSTRACT The compositions of the leaf essential oils of Juniperus communis, J. c. var. sibirica (J. communis var. saxatilis Pall.) and J. c. var. pygmaea (J. c. var. saxatilis) from Bulgaria are reported and compared with J. communis (Sweden) and J. c. var. saxatillis (Switzerland). The leaf volatile essential oils of J. communis, J. pygmaea and J. sibirica from Bulgaria are high in α-pinene (21.4 - 38.4%), sabinene (10.5 - 19.6%), limonene (1.8 - 5.5%), β-phellandrene (2.7 - 8.3%) and terpinen-4-ol (3.2 - 7.5%). PCO revealed some clustering of the J. sibirica samples, but most of the samples were interspersed. It seems likely that hybridization is occurring and, if so, could explain these results. At the present time, J. pygmaea appears to be conspecific with J. c. var. saxatilis and J. sibirica (of Flora Bulgaria) seems to be a distinct, shrubby form of J. communis with very short leaves. Published on-line www.phytologia.org Phytologia 95(4): 302-307 (Nov. 1, 2013). ISSN 030319430 KEY WORDS: Juniperus communis, J. c. var. sibirica, J. c. var. pygmaea, Bulgaria, leaf terpenes. The Flora of Bulgaria (Dimitrov, 2002) lists 6 native Juniperus species in Bulgaria: J. communis, J. excelsa, J. oxycedrus, J. pygmaea, J. sabina and J. sibirica. Adams and Tashev (2012) reported that J. oxycedrus from Bulgaria is actually J. deltoides that grows from Italy eastward through Turkey. Of interest to the present work, are the resolution and taxonomy of J. communis, J. pygmaea and J. sibirica (the latter two taxa treated as J. c. var. saxatilis by Adams, 2011 and Farjon, 2005, 2010). Of these 3 taxa, J. communis var. communis, grows as a small tree, whereas J. pygmaea and J. sibirica are small to spreading shrubs. They differ in their leaf morphology (Fig. 1), with J. pygmaea leaves being very Figure 1. J. communis, J. pygmaea and J. sibirica specimens from Bulgaria.