Tetraclinis articulata

The sandarac tree or Barbary thuja is a member of the Cypress or Cupressaceae family and is an evergreen coniferous tree native to northwestern Africa, 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.

• It is a small, slow-growing tree, to 6–15 m (rarely 20 m) tall, 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 after 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 (regrow by sprouting from stumps), an adaptation to survive wildfire and moderate levels of browsing by animals.