Pinus muricata |
Pinus sabiniana |
|
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Bishop pine |
California foothill pine, digger pine, foothill pine, ghost, gray, gray pine, or foothill pine |
|
Habit | Trees to 24m; trunk to 0.9m diam., straight to contorted; crown becoming rounded, flattened, or irregular. | Trees to 25m; trunk to 1.2m diam., straight to crooked, often forked; crown conic to raggedly lobed, sparse. |
Bark | dark gray, deeply furrowed, ridges long, scaly-plated. |
dark brown to near black, irregularly and deeply furrowed, ridges irregularly rectangular or blocky, scaly, often breaking away, bases of furrows and underbark orangish. |
Branches | spreading-ascending, often contorted; twigs stout to slender, orange-brown, aging darker brown, rough. |
often ascending; cone-bearing branchlets stout, twigs comparatively slender, both pale purple-brown and glaucous, aging gray, rough. |
Buds | ovoid-cylindric, dark brown, 1–2.5cm, resinous. |
ovoid, red-brown, ca. 1cm, resinous; scale margins white-fringed. |
Leaves | 2 per fascicle, spreading to upcurved, persisting 2–3 years, 8–15cm × (1.2–)1.5(–2)mm, slightly twisted, dark yellow-green, all surfaces with stomatal lines, margins strongly serrulate, apex abruptly conic-acute; sheath to 1.5cm, base persistent. |
mostly 3 per fascicle, drooping, persisting 3–4 years, 15–32cm × 1.5mm, slightly twisted, dull blue-green, all surfaces with pale, narrow stomatal lines, margins serrulate, apex short-acuminate; sheath to 2.4cm, base persistent. |
Pollen cones | ellipsoid, to 5mm, orange. |
ellipsoid, 10–15mm, yellow. |
Seed(s) | cones maturing in 3 years, serotinous, long-persistent, mostly in whorls, mostly asymmetric, lanceoloid-ovoid before opening, curved-ovoid when open, 4–9cm, glossy bright to pale red-brown, sessile or on stalks to 1cm, mostly downcurved, scales with deep red-brown border distally on adaxial surface; apophyses much thickened, the abaxial ones progressively more angulately dome-shaped toward base of cone; umbo central, a stout-based, curved claw. |
cones maturing in 2 years, shedding seeds soon thereafter, persisting to 7 years, pendent, massive, heavy, nearly symmetric, ovoid before opening, broadly to narrowly ovoid or ovoid-cylindric when open, 15–25cm, dull brown, resinous, stalks to 5cm; apophyses elongate, curved, continuous with umbos to form long, upcurved claws to 2cm. |
2n | =24. |
= 24. |
Pinus muricata |
Pinus sabiniana |
|
Habitat | Dry ridges to coastal, windshorn forests, often in or around bogs | Dry foothills on the west slope of the Sierra Nevada, and in the coast ranges, nearly ringing the Central Valley of California |
Elevation | 0–300m (0–1000ft) | 30–1900m (100–6200ft) |
Distribution |
CA; Mexico in Baja California
|
CA
|
Discussion | The several varieties described for Pinus muricata reflect the high variability in leaf characters and in degree of elaboration of apophysis and umbo in this species. The extremes can sometimes occur together. Of conservation concern. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Seeds of Pinus sabiniana were an important food source for many Indian groups in California, sometimes collectively referred to as "Digger Indians." Because the name "Digger" has been used as a derogatory ethnic term, many people prefer to avoid using the vernacular name Digger pine. (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 | P. muricata var. borealis, P. muricata var. cedrosensis, P. muricata var. stantonii, P. radiata var. binata, P. remorata | |
Name authority | D. Don: Trans. Linn. Soc. London, Bot. 17: 441. (1836) | Douglas ex D. Don: in Lambert, Descr. Pinus [ed. 3] 2: unnumbered page between 144 and 145, plate 80. (1832) |
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