Pinus strobiformis
Pinus torreyana
Chihuahua white pine, Mexican white pine, pino enano, Southwestern white pine
Del Mar pine, island Torrey pine, soledad pine, Torrey pine
gray, aging red-brown, furrowed, with narrow, irregular, scaly ridges.
red-brown to purple-red, deeply furrowed with irregular, elongate, flat, scaly ridges.
spreading-ascending;
twigs slender, pale red-brown, puberulous or glabrous, sometimes glaucous, aging gray or gray-brown, smooth.
irregular, spreading-ascending, candelabralike;
twigs stout (1–2cm thick), greenish, aging deep gray-brown to near black, rough.
ellipsoid, red-brown, ca. 1cm, resinous.
conic-ovoid, pale brown, to 2.5cm;
scale margins white-fringed.
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.
mostly 5 per fascicle, ascending or spreading, persisting 3–4 years, 15–30cm × ca. 2mm, straight or curved, slightly twisted, dull gray-green, all surfaces with fine stomatal lines, margins serrulate, apex abruptly acute;
sheath to 2cm, shed early, base persistent.
cylindric, ca. 6–10mm, pale yellow-brown.
ovoid, 20–30mm, yellow.
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 3 years, shedding seeds soon thereafter, persisting to 5 years, lateral, massive, heavy, symmetric, ovoid before opening, broadly ovoid when open, 10–15cm, yellow- to red-brown, lustrous, stalks to 4cm;
apophyses thick, angulately dome-shaped, with 5 low convergent keels;
umbo central, forming short, curved-tipped pyramid.
=24.
Pinus strobiformis
Pinus torreyana
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 torreyana is a rare and local Tertiary relic species whose present range is reduced to two small areas of southern California: near Del Mar (San Diego County) and on the northeastern shore of Santa Rosa Island (Santa Barbara County). Its distribution in Oligocene and Miocene (or at least that of its near ancestor) extended north to Oregon. Its harsh natural habitat elicits an unusually contorted and often sparse form, quite unlike the cleaner and taller form the species takes in cultivation.
In terms of numbers of individuals in the wild, as well as the small area occupied by natural populations, Pinus torreyana is without a doubt the rarest North American pine. As such it is under protection. Artificial crosses between it and another, more widespread Tertiary relic, P. sabiniana, have been successful.
Subspecies 2.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Crown of sheltered tree narrower than height of mature tree, open with well-spaced branches in natural sites; seed cones less than 13.5 cm broad, as broad as long or longer; only tip of umbo curved outward; maximum seed width ca. 12 mm. | subsp. torreyana |
1. Crown of sheltered tree broader than height of mature tree, compact in natural sites; seed cones mostly more than 13.5 cm broad, broader than long; entire umbo curved outward; maximum seed width ca. 14 mm. | subsp. insularis |
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