Pinus aristata |
Pinus sylvestris |
|
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bristlecone pine, Colorado bristlecone pine, Rocky Mountain bristlecone pine |
pin d'écosse, Scotch pine, Scots pine |
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Habit | Trees to 15m; trunk to 1m diam., strongly tapering, twisted; crown rounded, flattened (sheared), or irregular. | |
Bark | gray to red-brown, shallowly fissured, with long, flat, irregular ridges. |
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Branches | contorted; twigs pale red-brown, aging gray, puberulent, young branches resembling long bottlebrushes because of persistent leaves. |
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Buds | ovoid-acuminate, pale red-brown, ca. 1cm, resinous. |
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Leaves | 5 per fascicle, upcurved, persisting 10–17 years, (2–)3–4cm × 0.8–1mm, mostly connivent, deep blue-green, with drops and scales of resin, abaxial surface with strong, narrow median groove, adaxial surfaces conspicuously whitened by stomates, margins entire or distantly serrulate, apex conic-acute to conic-subulate; sheath 0.5–1.5cm, scales soon recurving, shed early. |
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Pollen cones | ellipsoid, ca. 10mm, bluish to red. |
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Seed(s) | cones maturing in 2 years, shedding seeds and falling soon thereafter, spreading, symmetric, lance-cylindric before opening, lance-ovoid to ovoid or cylindric when open, 6–11cm, purple to brown, nearly sessile; apophyses much thickened; umbo central, with triangular base, extended into slender, brittle prickle 4–10mm. |
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2n | =24. |
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Pinus aristata |
Pinus sylvestris |
|
Habitat | Subalpine and alpine | |
Elevation | 2500–3400m (8200–11200ft) | |
Distribution |
AZ; CO; NM
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North America; Eurasia
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Discussion | Pinus aristata has leaves usually narrower and sharper than in P. longaeva and P. balfouriana, and the leaves almost always have a narrow, median groove on the abaxial surface. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Varieties ca. 20 (1 introduced in the flora). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 2. | FNA vol. 2. |
Parent taxa | Pinaceae > Pinus | Pinaceae > Pinus |
Sibling taxa | ||
Subordinate taxa | ||
Synonyms | P. balfouriana var. aristata | |
Name authority | Engelmann: in Parry & Engelmann, Amer. J. Sci. Arts ser. 2, 34: 331. (1862) | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 1000. (1753) |
Web links |