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Mexican pinyon, pino piñonero, piñón

insignis pine, Monterey pine

Habit Shrubs or trees to 15m; trunk to 0.3m diam., strongly tapering, much branched; crown rounded. Trees to 30m; trunk to 0.9m diam., contorted to straight; crown broadly conic, becoming rounded to flattened.
Bark

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

gray, deeply V-furrowed, furrow bases red, ridges irregularly elongate-rectangular, their flattened surfaces scaly.

Branches

spreading-ascending;

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

level to downcurved or ascending, poorly self-pruning;

twigs slender, red-brown, sometimes glaucous, aging gray, rough.

Buds

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

ovoid to ovoid-cylindric, red-brown, ca. 1.5cm, resinous.

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.

(2–)3 in a fascicle, spreading-ascending, persisting 3–4 years, (8–)9–15(–20)cm × 1.3–1.8(–2)mm, straight, slightly twisted, deep yellow-green, all surfaces with fine stomatal lines, margins serrulate, apex conic-subulate;

sheath (1–)1.5–2cm, base persistent.

Pollen cones

ellipsoid, to 10mm, yellow.

ellipsoid-cylindric, 10–15mm, orange-brown.

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 soon thereafter, but often serotinous and persistent 6–20 years, solitary to whorled, spreading to recurved, curved, very asymmetric, ovoid before opening, broadly ovoid when open, 7–14cm, pale red-brown and lustrous, scales rigid, stalks to 1cm;

apophyses toward outer cone base increasingly mammillate, those on inward cone side and middle and apex of cone more level;

umbo central, mostly depressed, with small central boss or occasionally with slender, deciduous prickle.

2n

=24.

=24.

Pinus cembroides

Pinus radiata

Habitat Pinyon-juniper woodland, foothills, mesas, tablelands Coastal fog belt
Elevation 700–2300m (2300–7500ft) 30–400m (100–1300ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; NM; TX; Mexico
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; Mexico in Baja California [600–1200 m]
[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 radiata has an extremely narrow natural range: three coastal areas in California (one in San Mateo and Santa Cruz counties, one in Monterey County, and one in San Luis Obispo County) and off the coast of Baja California, Mexico (Guadalupe Island and debatably also on Cedros Island). Some natural populations of the species are under protection. Along the California coast it has escaped from cultivation, and from there into southern coastal Oregon it shows signs of naturalizing.

Pinus radiata is a much better-formed tree and of greater silvicultural value within its introduced range (Africa, Australia, Europe, and New Zealand, where it is a principal timber tree) than in its native range. It hybridizes naturally with P. attenuata (P. × attenuiradiata Stockwell & Righter).

Of conservation concern.

(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. monophylla, P. monticola, P. muricata, P. palustris, P. ponderosa, P. pungens, P. quadrifolia, 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. insignis
Name authority Zuccarini: Abh. Math.-Phys. Cl. Königl. Bayer. Akad. Wiss. 1: 392. (1832) D. Don: Trans. Linn. Soc. London, Bot. 17: 442. (1836)
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