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

piñón, single leaf pinyon, single-leaf pine, singleleaf pinyon pine

Habit Shrubs or trees to 15m; trunk to 0.3m diam., strongly tapering, much branched; crown rounded. Trees to 14m; trunk to 0.5m diam., strongly tapering, much branched; crown usually rounded, dense.
Bark

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

red-brown, irregularly furrowed or cross-checked, scaly.

Branches

spreading-ascending;

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

spreading and ascending, persistent to near trunk base;

twigs stout, orange-brown, aging brown to gray, sometimes sparsely puberulent.

Buds

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

ellipsoid, light red-brown, 0.5–0.7cm, resinous;

scale margins 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.

1(–2) per fascicle, ascending, persisting 4–6(–10) years, 2–6cm × 1.3–2(–2.5)mm, curved, terete (though often 2-grooved), gray-green, all surfaces with stomatal lines, margins entire, apex subulate;

sheath 0.5–1cm, scales soon recurved, forming rosette, shed early.

Pollen cones

ellipsoid, to 10mm, yellow.

ellipsoid, ca. 10mm, 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, spreading, symmetric, ovoid before opening, broadly depressed-ovoid to nearly globose when open, 4–6(–8)cm, pale yellow-brown, nearly sessile;

apophyses thickened, slightly raised;

umbo subcentral, raised or depressed, nearly truncate, apiculate.

2n

=24.

=24.

Pinus cembroides

Pinus monophylla

Habitat Pinyon-juniper woodland, foothills, mesas, tablelands Dry low-montane or foothill pinyon-juniper woodland
Elevation 700–2300m (2300–7500ft) 1000–2300m (3300–7500ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; NM; TX; Mexico
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; CA; ID; NV; UT; 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 monophylla hybridizes with P. edulis and P. quadrifolia.

Singleleaf pinyon (Pinus monophylla) is the state tree of Nevada.

(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. jeffreyi, P. lambertiana, P. leiophylla, P. longaeva, 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 Caryopitys monophylla, P. californiarum, P. cembroides var. monophylla
Name authority Zuccarini: Abh. Math.-Phys. Cl. Königl. Bayer. Akad. Wiss. 1: 392. (1832) Torrey & Frémont: in Frémont, Rep. Exped. Rocky Mts. 2: 319, plate 4. (1845)
Web links