Pinus aristata
Pinus palustris
bristlecone pine, Colorado bristlecone pine, Rocky Mountain bristlecone pine
longleaf pine
gray to red-brown, shallowly fissured, with long, flat, irregular ridges.
orange-brown, with coarse, rectangular, scaly plates.
contorted;
twigs pale red-brown, aging gray, puberulent, young branches resembling long bottlebrushes because of persistent leaves.
spreading-descending, upcurved at tips;
twigs stout (to 2cm thick), orange-brown, aging darker brown, rough.
ovoid-acuminate, pale red-brown, ca. 1cm, resinous.
ovoid, silvery white, 3–4cm;
scales narrow, margins fringed.
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.
(2)–3 per fascicle, spreading-recurved, persisting 2 years, 20–45cm × ca. 1.5mm, slightly twisted, lustrous yellow-green, all surfaces with fine stomatal lines, margins finely serrulate, apex abruptly acute to acuminate;
sheath 2–2.5(–3)cm, base persistent.
ellipsoid, ca. 10mm, bluish to red.
cylindric, 30–80mm, purplish.
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.
cones maturing in 2 years, quickly shedding seeds and falling, solitary or paired toward branchlet tips, symmetric, lanceoloid before opening, ovoid-cylindric when open, 15–25cm, dull brown, sessile (rarely short-stalked);
apophyses dull, slightly thickened, slightly raised, nearly rhombic, strongly cross-keeled;
umbo central, broadly triangular, with short, stiff, reflexed prickle.
=24.
=24.
Pinus aristata
Pinus palustris
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.)
Pinus palustris is fire successional, with a deep taproot and a definite grass stage. It is a valued species for lumber and pulpwood and was once important for naval stores (e.g., turpentine, pine oil, tar, pitch). It is fast disappearing over much of its natural range, partly through overharvesting but especially because of difficulties in adapting it to current plantation and management techniques.
Longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) is the state tree of North Carolina.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
CA
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
LA Plants
