Pinus cembroides |
Pinus torreyana |
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Mexican pinyon, pino piñonero, piñón |
Del Mar pine, island Torrey pine, soledad pine, Torrey pine |
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Habit | Shrubs or trees to 15m; trunk to 0.3m diam., strongly tapering, much branched; crown rounded. | Trees to 15(–23)m; trunk to 1m diam., in nature mostly crooked and leaning; crown rounded to flattened or irregular. | ||||
Bark | red-brown to dark brown, shallowly and irregularly furrowed, ridges broad, scaly. |
red-brown to purple-red, deeply furrowed with irregular, elongate, flat, scaly ridges. |
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Branches | spreading-ascending; twigs red-brown, sometimes finely papillate, aging gray to gray-brown. |
irregular, spreading-ascending, candelabralike; twigs stout (1–2cm thick), greenish, aging deep gray-brown to near black, rough. |
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Buds | ovoid to short cylindric, pale red-brown, 0.5–1.2cm, slightly resinous. |
conic-ovoid, pale brown, to 2.5cm; scale margins white-fringed. |
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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. |
mostly 5 per fascicle, ascending or spreading, persisting 3–4 years, 15–30cm × ca. 2mm, straight or curved, slightly twisted, dull gray-green, all surfaces with fine stomatal lines, margins serrulate, apex abruptly acute; sheath to 2cm, shed early, base persistent. |
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Pollen cones | ellipsoid, to 10mm, yellow. |
ovoid, 20–30mm, yellow. |
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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 3 years, shedding seeds soon thereafter, persisting to 5 years, lateral, massive, heavy, symmetric, ovoid before opening, broadly ovoid when open, 10–15cm, yellow- to red-brown, lustrous, stalks to 4cm; apophyses thick, angulately dome-shaped, with 5 low convergent keels; umbo central, forming short, curved-tipped pyramid. |
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2n | =24. |
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Pinus cembroides |
Pinus torreyana |
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Habitat | Pinyon-juniper woodland, foothills, mesas, tablelands | |||||
Elevation | 700–2300m (2300–7500ft) | |||||
Distribution |
AZ; NM; TX; Mexico
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CA; only in the flora
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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 torreyana is a rare and local Tertiary relic species whose present range is reduced to two small areas of southern California: near Del Mar (San Diego County) and on the northeastern shore of Santa Rosa Island (Santa Barbara County). Its distribution in Oligocene and Miocene (or at least that of its near ancestor) extended north to Oregon. Its harsh natural habitat elicits an unusually contorted and often sparse form, quite unlike the cleaner and taller form the species takes in cultivation. In terms of numbers of individuals in the wild, as well as the small area occupied by natural populations, Pinus torreyana is without a doubt the rarest North American pine. As such it is under protection. Artificial crosses between it and another, more widespread Tertiary relic, P. sabiniana, have been successful. Subspecies 2. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 2. | FNA vol. 2. | ||||
Parent taxa | Pinaceae > Pinus | Pinaceae > Pinus | ||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||
Synonyms | P. cembroides var. bicolor, P. cembroides var. remota, P. discolor, P. remota | |||||
Name authority | Zuccarini: Abh. Math.-Phys. Cl. Königl. Bayer. Akad. Wiss. 1: 392. (1832) | Parry ex Carrière | ||||
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