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Colorado pinyon, pinyon, piñon pine, piñón, two needle pinyon pine, two-needle pinyon

shortleaf pine

Habit Shrubs or trees to 21m; trunk to 0.6m diam., strongly tapering, erect; crown conic, rounded, dense. Trees to 40m; trunk to 1.2m diam., straight; crown rounded to conic.
Bark

red-brown, shallowly and irregularly furrowed, ridges scaly, rounded.

red-brown, scaly-plated, plates with evident resin pockets.

Branches

persistent to near trunk base;

twigs pale red-brown to tan, rarely glaucous, aging gray-brown to gray, glabrous to papillose-puberulent.

spreading-ascending; 2-year-old branchlets slender (ca. 5mm or less), greenish brown to red-brown, often glaucous, aging red-brown to gray, roughened and cracking below leafy portion.

Buds

ovoid to ellipsoid, red-brown, 0.5–1cm, resinous.

ovoid to cylindric, red-brown, 0.5–0.7(–1)cm, resinous.

Leaves

(1–)2(–3) per fascicle, upcurved, persisting 4–6 years, 2–4cm × (0.9–)1–1.5mm, connivent, 2-sided (1-leaved fascicles with leaves 2-grooved, 3-leaved fascicles with leaves 3-sided), blue-green, all surfaces marked with pale stomatal bands, particularly the adaxial, margins entire or finely serrulate, apex narrowly acute to subulate;

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

2(–3) per fascicle, spreading-ascending, persistent 3–5 years, (5–)7–11(–13)cm × ca. 1mm, straight, slightly twisted, gray- to yellow-green, all surfaces with fine stomatal lines, margins finely serrulate, apex abruptly acute;

sheath 0.5–1(–1.5)cm, base persistent.

Pollen cones

ellipsoid, ca. 7mm, yellowish to red-brown.

cylindric, 15–20mm, yellow- to pale purple-green.

Seed(s)

cones maturing in 2 years, shedding seeds and falling soon thereafter, spreading, symmetric, ovoid before opening, depressed-ovoid to nearly globose when open, ca. (3.5–)4(–5)cm, pale yellow- to pale red-brown, resinous, nearly sessile to short-stalked;

apophyses thickened, raised, angulate;

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

cones maturing in 2 years, semipersistent, solitary or clustered, spreading, symmetric, lanceoloid or narrowly ovoid before opening, ovoid-conic when open, 4–6(–7)cm, red-brown, aging gray, nearly sessile or on stalks to 1cm, scales lacking contrasting dark border on adaxial surfaces distally;

umbo central, with elongate to short, stout, sharp prickle.

2n

=24.

=24.

Pinus edulis

Pinus echinata

Habitat Dry mountain slopes, mesas, plateaus, and pinyon-juniper woodland Uplands, dry forests
Elevation 1500–2100(–2700)m (4900–6900(–8900)ft) 200–610m (700–2000ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; CA; CO; NM; OK; TX; UT; WY; Mexico in Chihuahua
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AL; AR; DE; FL; GA; IL; KY; LA; MD; MO; MS; NC; NY; OH; OK; PA; SC; TN; TX; VA; WV
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Pinus edulis var. fallax Little (P. californiarum subsp. fallax (Little) D.K.Bailey) appears to combine features of P. edulis and P. monophylla. More study is needed.

Seeds of Pinus edulis, the commonest southwestern United States pinyon, are much eaten and traded by Native Americans.

Pinyon (Pinus edulis) is the state tree of New Mexico.

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

Although Pinus echinata is highly valued for timber and pulpwood, it is afflicted by root rot. It hybridizes with P. taeda, the pine most commonly associated with it.

(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. cembroides, P. clausa, P. contorta, P. coulteri, P. echinata, 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. 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
Synonyms Caryopitys edulis, P. cembroides var. edulis
Name authority Engelmann: in Wislizenus, Mem. Tour N. Mexico 88. (1848) Miller: Gard. Dict., ed. 8 Pinus no. 12. (1768)
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