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pin rigide, pitch pine

insignis pine, Monterey pine

Habit Trees to 31m; trunk to 0.9m diam., straight or crooked, commonly with adventitious sprouts; crown rounded or irregular. Trees to 30m; trunk to 0.9m diam., contorted to straight; crown broadly conic, becoming rounded to flattened.
Bark

red-brown, deeply and irregularly furrowed, with long, irregularly rectangular, flat, scaly ridges, resin pockets absent.

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

Branches

arching-spreading to ascending, poorly self-pruning; 2-year-old branchlets stout (mostly over 5mm thick), orange-brown, aging darker brown, rough.

level to downcurved or ascending, poorly self-pruning;

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

Buds

ovoid to ovoid-cylindric, red-brown, ca. 1–1.5cm, resinous;

scale margins fringed, apex cuspidate.

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

Leaves

3(–5) per fascicle, spreading to ascending, persisting 2–3 years, 5–10(–15)cm × 1–1.5(–2)mm, straight, twisted, deep to pale yellow-green, all surfaces with fine stomatal lines, margins serrulate, apex abruptly subulate-acuminate;

sheath 0.9–1.2cm, base persistent.

(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

cylindric, ca. 20mm, yellow.

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

Seed(s)

cones maturing in 2 years, shedding seeds soon thereafter or variously serotinous and long-persistent, often clustered, symmetric, conic to ovoid before opening, broadly ovoid with flat or slightly convex base when open, 3–9cm, creamy brown to light red-brown, sessile to short-stalked, base truncate, scales firm, with dark red-brown border on adaxial surface distally;

apophyses slightly raised, rhombic, with strong transverse keels;

umbo central, low-triangular, with slender, downcurved prickle.

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 rigida

Pinus radiata

Habitat Upland or lowland, sterile, dry to boggy soils Coastal fog belt
Elevation 0–1400m (0–4600ft) 30–400m (100–1300ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CT; DE; GA; KY; MA; MD; ME; NC; NH; NJ; NY; OH; PA; RI; SC; TN; VA; VT; WV; ON; QC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; Mexico in Baja California [600–1200 m]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Pinus rigida often has poor form and is not valued highly as saw timber. It is fire successional, sprouts adventitiously, and is frequently shrubby in the northern part of its range. It is known to hybridize naturally with P. echinata.

(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. 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. radiata, P. resinosa, 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. insignis
Name authority Miller: Gard. Dict., ed. 8 Pinus no. 10. (1768) D. Don: Trans. Linn. Soc. London, Bot. 17: 442. (1836)
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