Tetraclinis

Tetraclinis (also called arar, araar or Sictus tree) is a genus of evergreen coniferous trees in the cypress family Cupressaceae, containing only one species, Tetraclinis articulata, also known as Thuja articulata, sandarac, sandarac tree or Barbary thuja, endemic to the western Mediterranean region. 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. It grows at relatively low altitudes in a hot, dry subtropical Mediterranean climate.

Its closest relatives include Platycladus and Microbiota. The Calocedrus is the closest. In older texts, it was sometimes treated in Thuja or Callitris, but it is less closely related to those genera.

It is a small, slow-growing tree, to 6-15 m (rarely 20 m) tall and 0.5 m (rarely 1 m) trunk diameter, often with two or more trunks from the base. Open sprays of scale-like foliage are formed with leaves that measure 1-8 mm in length and 1-1.5mm in width. The leaves are arranged in opposite pairs of decussate pairs. Each pair is closely spaced then further apart, forming an apparent grouping 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.

This conifer is one of a few that can coppice, which allows the tree to grow from its stumps. It’s an adaptation to withstand wildfire and moderate amounts of browsing by animals. Lupias are large burls that form from old trees that have sprang repeatedly over a long time.