Pinus flexilis |
Pinus aristata |
|
---|---|---|
limber pine, pin blanc de l'ouest |
bristlecone pine, Colorado bristlecone pine, Rocky Mountain bristlecone pine |
|
Habit | Trees to 26m; trunk to 2m diam., straight to contorted; crown conic, becoming rounded. | Trees to 15m; trunk to 1m diam., strongly tapering, twisted; crown rounded, flattened (sheared), or irregular. |
Bark | gray, nearly smooth, cross-checked in age into scaly plates and ridges. |
gray to red-brown, shallowly fissured, with long, flat, irregular ridges. |
Branches | spreading to ascending, often persistent to trunk base; twigs pale red-brown, puberulous (rarely glabrous), slightly resinous, aging gray, smooth. |
contorted; twigs pale red-brown, aging gray, puberulent, young branches resembling long bottlebrushes because of persistent leaves. |
Buds | ovoid, light red-brown, 0.9–1cm, resinous; lower scales ciliolate along margins. |
ovoid-acuminate, pale red-brown, ca. 1cm, resinous. |
Leaves | 5 per fascicle, spreading to upcurved and ascending, persisting 5–6 years, 3–7cm × 1–1.5mm, pliant, dark green, abaxial surface with less conspicuous stomatal bands than adaxial surfaces, adaxial surfaces with strong, pale stomatal bands, margins finely serrulate, apex conic-acute to acuminate; sheath 1–1.5(–2)cm, shed early. |
5 per fascicle, upcurved, persisting 10–17 years, (2–)3–4cm × 0.8–1mm, mostly connivent, deep blue-green, with drops and scales of resin, abaxial surface with strong, narrow median groove, adaxial surfaces conspicuously whitened by stomates, margins entire or distantly serrulate, apex conic-acute to conic-subulate; sheath 0.5–1.5cm, scales soon recurving, shed early. |
Pollen cones | broadly ellipsoid-cylindric, ca. 15mm, pale red or yellow. |
ellipsoid, ca. 10mm, bluish to red. |
Seed(s) | cones maturing in 2 years, shedding seeds and falling soon thereafter, spreading, symmetric, lance-ovoid before opening, cylindro-ovoid when open, 7–15cm, straw-colored, resinous, sessile to short-stalked, apophyses much thickened, strongly cross-keeled, umbo terminal, depressed. |
cones maturing in 2 years, shedding seeds and falling soon thereafter, spreading, symmetric, lance-cylindric before opening, lance-ovoid to ovoid or cylindric when open, 6–11cm, purple to brown, nearly sessile; apophyses much thickened; umbo central, with triangular base, extended into slender, brittle prickle 4–10mm. |
2n | =24. |
=24. |
Pinus flexilis |
Pinus aristata |
|
Habitat | High montane forests, often at timberline | Subalpine and alpine |
Elevation | (1000–)1500–3600m ((3300–)4900–11800ft) | 2500–3400m (8200–11200ft) |
Distribution |
AZ; CA; CO; ID; MT; ND; NE; NM; NV; OR; SD; UT; WY; AB; BC
|
AZ; CO; NM
|
Discussion | Pinus flexilis, much branched with a strongly tapering trunk, is little utilized because of its form and relative inaccessibility. It reportedly forms intermediates with P. strobiformis where the two overlap. The fresh-cut wood has the odor of turpentine. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Pinus aristata has leaves usually narrower and sharper than in P. longaeva and P. balfouriana, and the leaves almost always have a narrow, median groove on the abaxial surface. (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 | ||
Synonyms | Apinus flexilis | P. balfouriana var. aristata |
Name authority | E. James: Account Exped. Pittsburgh 2: 27, 35. (1823) | Engelmann: in Parry & Engelmann, Amer. J. Sci. Arts ser. 2, 34: 331. (1862) |
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