Pinus leiophylla

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Pinus leiophylla
Pinus leiophylla chihuahuana BirdRock.jpg
Pinus leiophylla subsp. chihuahuana, Bird Rock, Chiricahua National Monument, Arizona
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Gymnospermae
Division: Pinophyta
Class: Pinopsida
Order: Pinales
Family: Pinaceae
Genus: Pinus
Subgenus: P. subg. Pinus
Section: P. sect. Trifoliae
Subsection: P. subsect. Australes
Species:
P. leiophylla
Binomial name
Pinus leiophylla
Pinus leiophylla range map 1.png
Natural range

Pinus leiophylla, commonly known as Chihuahua pine, [2] smooth-leaf pine, [3] [4] and yellow pine [4] (in Mexico, tlacocote and ocote chino), is a tree with a range primarily in Mexico, with a small extension into the United States in southeast Arizona and southwest New Mexico. The Mexican range extends along the Sierra Madre Occidental and Sierra Madre del Sur from Chihuahua to Oaxaca, from 29° North Lat. to 17°, between 1600 and 3000 meters altitude. It requires about a rainfall 600 to 1000 mm a year, mostly in summer. It tolerates frosts in winter.

Contents

Description

This member of family Pinaceae grows to the height of 20–30 m (66–98 ft) with a trunk diameter of 35–80 cm (14–31 in). The needles are in bundles of three to five, 5–10 cm (2–4 in) long, or rarely to 15 cm or 6 in, and are a bright glossy green to yellowish-green. The cones are ovoid, 4–7 cm (1+122+34 in) long, or rarely to 8 cm or 3+14 in, and borne on a 1–2 cm (1234 in) long stalk; they are unusual in taking about 3032 months to mature, a year longer than most other pines. The bark is gray-brownish, and fissured.

Subspecies

There are two subspecies (treated by some botanists as distinct species, by others as just varieties):

Habitat and ecology

This species often grows in mixed in stands with several other pines and/or junipers, in Arizona most often with Apache Pine and Alligator Juniper, but also grows in pure stands. Its habitat is prone to wildfire, and the species shows some adaptations unusual among pines to cope with this; if the crown is destroyed by fire, the trunk, protected by its thick bark, will send out new shoots to re-grow a new crown. The only other pines to do this are Pitch Pine (P. rigida) and Canary Island Pine (P. canariensis). As none of these are species particularly closely related to each other, the adaptation has probably arisen independently in each, an example of convergent evolution.

Cultivation and uses

The wood of the Pinus leiophylla is hard, dense and strong. It is used for construction, firewood, and railroad ties. In South Africa and Queensland, Australia there are big extensions of this tree planted. It is planted commercially in Kenya, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Zambia at high altitudes.

Related Research Articles

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Pinus nigra, the Austrian pine or black pine, is a moderately variable species of pine, occurring across Southern Europe from the Iberian Peninsula to the eastern Mediterranean, on the Anatolian peninsula of Turkey, Corsica and Cyprus, as well as Crimea and in the high mountains of Northwest Africa. The world's oldest black pine, located in the Banaz district of Uşak, Türkiye, is estimated to be 1000 years old. This makes it significant in the country, which is known for a very dry climate, inhospitable for most trees. It has a length of 11 meters, a diameter of 3 meters and a circumference of 9.60 meters.

<i>Pinus strobiformis</i> Species of conifer

Pinus strobiformis, also known as Chihuahua white pine, is a medium-sized white pine tree endemic to western Mexico in the Sierra Madre Occidental mountain range. It is typically a high-elevation pine growing mixed with other conifers in montane forest. It was formerly considered conspecific with Pinus reflexa of the southwestern United States and Pinus stylesii of northeastern Mexico, but is now treated as distinct from these.

<i>Pinus arizonica</i> Species of conifer

Pinus arizonica, commonly known as the Arizona pine, is a medium-sized pine in northern Mexico, southeast Arizona, southwest New Mexico, and western Texas in the United States. It is a tree growing to 25–35 m tall, with a trunk diameter of up to 1.2 m. The needles are in bundles of 3, 4, or 5, with 5-needle fascicles being the most prevalent. This variability may be a sign of hybridization with the closely related ponderosa pine. The cones are single, paired, or in whorls of three, and 5–11 cm long.

<i>Pinus ponderosa</i> Species of large pine tree in North America

Pinus ponderosa, commonly known as the ponderosa pine, bull pine, blackjack pine, western yellow-pine, or filipinus pine, is a very large pine tree species of variable habitat native to mountainous regions of western North America. It is the most widely distributed pine species in North America.

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<i>Pinus johannis</i> Species of conifer

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<i>Pinus edulis</i> Species of plant

Pinus edulis, the Colorado pinyon, two-needle piñon, pinyon pine, or simply piñon, is a pine in the pinyon pine group native to the Southwestern United States, used for its edible pine nuts.

<i>Pinus ayacahuite</i> Species of conifer

Pinus ayacahuite, also called ayacahuite pine and Mexican white pine, is a species of pine native to the mountains of southern Mexico and western Central America, in the Sierra Madre del Sur mountains and the eastern end of the Eje Volcánico Transversal, between 14° and 21°N latitude in the Mexican states of Guerrero, Oaxaca, Puebla, Veracruz and Chiapas, and in Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. It grows on relatively moist areas with summer rainfalls, however specimens from its eastern and southern distribution live under really wet conditions; it needs full sun and well drained soils. Its temperature needs fluctuate between 19 and 10 °C on average a year. This tree accepts from subtropical to cool climate.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abert's squirrel</span> Species of rodent

Abert's squirrel or the tassel-eared squirrel is a tree squirrel in the genus Sciurus native to the southern Rocky Mountains from the United States to the northern Sierra Madre Occidental of Mexico, with concentrations found in Arizona, New Mexico, and southwestern Colorado. It is closely associated with, and largely confined to, mature ponderosa pine forests. It is named in honor of the American naturalist John James Abert; nine subspecies are recognised. It is recognizable by its tufted ears, gray color, pale underparts and rufous patch on the lower back. The squirrel feeds on the seeds and cones of the Mexican pinyon and the ponderosa pine when they are available, but will also take fungi, buds, bark, and carrion. Breeding normally occurs in summer, with a spherical nest being built high in the canopy.

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<i>Pinus hartwegii</i> Species of conifer

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<i>Pinus durangensis</i> Species of conifer

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<i>Pinus maximartinezii</i> Species of conifer

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<i>Pinus douglasiana</i> Species of conifer

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Arceuthobium gillii, common name "Chihuahua pine dwarf mistletoe," is a parasitic plant found in Arizona, New Mexico, Chihuahua, Sonora and Sinaloa. It is found mostly on the Chihuahua pine, Pinus leiophylla var. chihuahuana.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cuenca Alimentadora del Distrito Nacional de Riego 043 Estado de Nayarit</span>

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References

  1. Farjon, A. (2013). "Pinus leiophylla". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2013: e.T42376A2976226. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T42376A2976226.en . Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  2. NRCS. "Pinus leiophylla". PLANTS Database. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Retrieved February 11, 2012.
  3. Pinus leiophylla was originally described and published in Linnaea 6:354. 1831. "Pinus leiophylla". Germplasm Resources Information Network . Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture . Retrieved February 10, 2012.
  4. 1 2 Michel H. Porcher (1995–2020). "Sorting Pinus names". Multilingual Multiscript Plant Name Database. Retrieved February 10, 2012.
  5. Moore, Gerry; Kershner, Bruce; Craig Tufts; Daniel Mathews; Gil Nelson; Spellenberg, Richard; Thieret, John W.; Terry Purinton; Block, Andrew (2008). National Wildlife Federation Field Guide to Trees of North America. New York: Sterling. p. 90. ISBN   978-1-4027-3875-3.