The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

Mexican pinyon, pino piñonero, piñón

Jeffrey pine

Habit Shrubs or trees to 15m; trunk to 0.3m diam., strongly tapering, much branched; crown rounded. Trees to 61m; trunk to 2.5m diam., usually straight; crown conic to rounded.
Bark

red-brown to dark brown, shallowly and irregularly furrowed, ridges broad, scaly.

yellow-brown to cinnamon, deeply furrowed and cross-checked, forming large irregular scaly plates.

Branches

spreading-ascending;

twigs red-brown, sometimes finely papillate, aging gray to gray-brown.

spreading-ascending;

twigs stout (to 2cm thick), purple-brown, often glaucous, aging rough.

Buds

ovoid to short cylindric, pale red-brown, 0.5–1.2cm, slightly resinous.

ovoid, tan to pale red-brown, 2–3cm, not resinous;

scale margins conspicuously fringed.

Leaves

(2–)3(–4) per fascicle, spreading to upcurved, persisting 3–4 years, 2–6cm × 0.6–0.9(–1)mm, connivent, 2–3-sided, blue- to gray-green, abaxial surface not conspicuously whitened with stomatal bands or if stomatal bands present, these less conspicuous than on adaxial surfaces, often with 2 subepidermal resin bands evident, adaxial surfaces conspicuously whitened with stomatal lines, margins entire to finely serrulate, apex narrowly conic or subulate;

sheath 0.5–0.7cm, scales soon recurved, forming rosette, shed early.

3 per fascicle, spreading-ascending, persisting (2–)4–6(–7) years, 12–22(–25)cm × ca. 1.5–2mm, slightly twisted, gray- to yellow-green, all surfaces with fine stomatal lines, margins finely serrulate, apex acute to acuminate;

sheath (1–)1.5–2.5(–3)cm, base persistent.

Pollen cones

ellipsoid, to 10mm, yellow.

lance-cylindric, 20–35mm, yellow to yellow- or purple-brown or yellow.

Seed(s)

cones maturing in 2 years, shedding seeds and falling soon thereafter, spreading, symmetric, ovoid before opening, broadly depressed-ovoid to nearly globose when open, 1–3.5cm, pale yellow- to pale red-brown, resinous, nearly sessile or short-stalked;

apophyses thickened, slightly domed, angulate, transversely keeled;

umbo subcentral, slightly raised to depressed, truncate or umbilicate.

cones maturing in 2 years, shedding seeds and falling soon thereafter, nearly terminal, spreading, slightly asymmetric at base, ovoid-conic before opening, cylindro-ovoid when open, (10–)15–30cm, light red-brown, nearly sessile or on stalks to 0.5cm, abaxial surface of scales not darker than or sharply contrasting in color with adaxial surface, scales in low spirals (as compared to Pinus ponderosa) of 8 or more per row as viewed from side, those of cones just prior to and after cone fall not so spreading and deflexed, thus not so much separated from adjacent scales;

apophyses slightly thickened and raised, not keeled;

umbo central, slightly raised, with short, slender, reflexed prickle.

2n

=24.

=24.

Pinus cembroides

Pinus jeffreyi

Habitat Pinyon-juniper woodland, foothills, mesas, tablelands High, dry montane forests mostly above the Pinus ponderosa zone
Elevation 700–2300m (2300–7500ft) 2000–2500m (6600–8200ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; NM; TX; Mexico
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; NV; OR; Mexico in Baja California
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Pinus cembroides is the common pinyon of Mexican commerce. Populations of the Edwards Plateau, Texas, are disjunct about 150km east and north of the main area of distribution of the species, and they have been described as a distinct variety, P. cembroides var. remota Little, on the basis of thin seed shell and a higher frequency of 2-leaved fascicles in contrast to the thicker seed shell and prevalently 3-leaved fascicles in Mexican pinyon populations to the west and south. The strong overlap in nearly all character states between the populations of the Edwards Plateau and other populations makes var. remota difficult to maintain.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Pinus jeffreyi has a form very similar to that of P. ponderosa, but it is a smaller species when compared with sympatric populations of the latter. It is cut and sold under the same name as P. ponderosa, but the sweetish odor of the fresh-cut wood contrasts sharply with the turpentine odor of ponderosa pine. The resin chemistry of the two species is significantly different.

(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
P. albicaulis, P. aristata, P. attenuata, P. balfouriana, P. banksiana, P. clausa, P. contorta, P. coulteri, P. echinata, P. edulis, P. elliottii, P. engelmannii, P. flexilis, P. glabra, P. jeffreyi, P. lambertiana, P. leiophylla, P. longaeva, P. monophylla, P. monticola, P. muricata, P. palustris, P. ponderosa, P. pungens, P. quadrifolia, P. radiata, P. resinosa, P. rigida, P. sabiniana, P. serotina, P. strobiformis, P. strobus, P. sylvestris, P. taeda, P. torreyana, P. virginiana, P. washoensis
P. albicaulis, P. aristata, P. attenuata, P. balfouriana, P. banksiana, P. cembroides, P. clausa, P. contorta, P. coulteri, P. echinata, P. edulis, P. elliottii, P. engelmannii, P. flexilis, P. glabra, P. lambertiana, P. leiophylla, P. longaeva, P. monophylla, P. monticola, P. muricata, P. palustris, P. ponderosa, P. pungens, P. quadrifolia, P. radiata, P. resinosa, P. rigida, P. sabiniana, P. serotina, P. strobiformis, P. strobus, P. sylvestris, P. taeda, P. torreyana, P. virginiana, P. washoensis
Synonyms P. cembroides var. bicolor, P. cembroides var. remota, P. discolor, P. remota P. deflexa, P. jeffreyi var. deflexa, P. ponderosa var. jeffreyi
Name authority Zuccarini: Abh. Math.-Phys. Cl. Königl. Bayer. Akad. Wiss. 1: 392. (1832) Greville & Balfour: in A. Murray bis, Bot. Exped. Oregon 8: 2 plates. (1853)
Web links