Pinus strobiformis
Pinus coulteri
Chihuahua white pine, Mexican white pine, pino enano, Southwestern white pine
big-cone pine, Coulter pine
gray, aging red-brown, furrowed, with narrow, irregular, scaly ridges.
dark gray-brown to near black, deeply furrowed, with long, scaly, irregularly anastomosing, rounded ridges.
spreading-ascending;
twigs slender, pale red-brown, puberulous or glabrous, sometimes glaucous, aging gray or gray-brown, smooth.
often ascending;
twigs stout to moderately slender, violet-brown, often glaucous, aging gray-brown, rough.
ellipsoid, red-brown, ca. 1cm, resinous.
ovoid, deep red-brown, 1.5(–3)cm, resinous;
scale margins white-fringed, apex cuspidate.
5 per fascicle, spreading to ascending-upcurved, persisting 3–5 years, 4–9cm × 0.6–1mm, straight, slightly twisted, pliant, dark green to blue-green, abaxial surface without evident stomatal lines, adaxial surfaces conspicuously whitened by narrow stomatal lines, margins sharp, razorlike and entire to finely serrulate, apex narrowly acute to short-subulate;
sheath 1.5–2cm, shed early.
3 per fascicle, slightly spreading, not drooping, mostly ascending in a brush, persisting 3–4 years, 15–30cm × ca. 2mm, slightly curved or straight, twisted, dusty gray-green, all surfaces with pale, fine stomatal lines, margins serrulate, apex abruptly subulate;
sheath 2–4cm, base persistent.
cylindric, ca. 6–10mm, pale yellow-brown.
ovoid to cylindric, to 25mm, light purple-brown, aging orange-brown.
cones maturing in 2 years, shedding seeds and falling soon thereafter, pendent, symmetric, lance-cylindric before opening, broadly lance-cylindric when open, 15–25cm, creamy brown to light yellow-brown, stalks to 6cm;
apophyses somewhat thickened, strongly cross-keeled, tip reflexed;
umbo terminal, low.
cones maturing in 2 years, gradually shedding seeds thereafter and moderately persistent, massive, heavy, drooping, asymmetric at base, narrowly ovoid before opening, ovoid-cylindric when open, 20–35cm, pale yellow-brown, resinous, stalks to 3cm;
apophyses transverse-rhombic, strongly and sharply cross-keeled, elongate, curved, continuous with umbos to form long, upcurved claws 2.5–3cm.
=24.
=24.
Pinus strobiformis
Pinus coulteri
In the northern part of the range, Pinus strobiformis overlaps P. flexilis and reportedly hybridizes with it. On average P. strobiformis has longer, more slender leaves and thinner, more spreading-tipped apophyses than are found in P. flexilis, and stomatal bands are not evident on the abaxial surface of its leaves.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Pinus coulteri is the heaviest-coned pine; one who seeks its shade should wear a hardhat.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
CA
