Pinus torreyana
Pinus attenuata
Del Mar pine, island Torrey pine, soledad pine, Torrey pine
knobcone pine
red-brown to purple-red, deeply furrowed with irregular, elongate, flat, scaly ridges.
purple-brown to dark brown, shallowly and narrowly fissured, with irregular, flat, loose-scaly plates, on upper sections of trunk nearly smooth.
irregular, spreading-ascending, candelabralike;
twigs stout (1–2cm thick), greenish, aging deep gray-brown to near black, rough.
ascending;
twigs slender, red-brown.
conic-ovoid, pale brown, to 2.5cm;
scale margins white-fringed.
ovoid to ovoid-cylindric, dark red-brown, aging darker, ca. 1.5cm, resinous;
scale margins fringed, apex attenuate.
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.
3 per fascicle, spreading or ascending, persisting 4–5 years, (8–)9–15(–20)cm × (1–)1.3–1.8mm, straight or slightly curved, twisted, yellow-green, all surfaces with fine stomatal lines, margins serrulate, apex abruptly conic-subulate;
sheath (1–)1.5–2cm, base persistent.
ovoid, 20–30mm, yellow.
ellipsoid-cylindric, 10–15mm, orange-brown.
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.
cones maturing in 2 years, serotinous, long-persistent, remaining closed for 20 years or more, or opening on burning, in whorls, hard and heavy, very asymmetric, lanceoloid before opening, ovoid-cylindric when open, 8–15cm, yellow- or pale red-brown, stalks to 1cm;
apophyses toward outside base increasingly elongate, mammillate or raised-angled-conic, downcurved near base, scarcely raised on branchlet side, rhombic;
umbo central, low-pyramidal, sharp, upcurved.
=24.
Pinus torreyana
Pinus attenuata
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.)
Pinus attenuata, mostly a chaparral species, bears cones at an early age. Its seed crops are heavy, and a hot fire permits the seeds to be released. It forms hybrids with P. muricata and P. radiata.
(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 |
CA
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
OR
Flora NW
PNW Herbaria
