Pinus edulis Engelm., Mem. Tour N. Mexico 88 1848. (Syn: Caryopitys edulis (Engelm.) Small; Pinus cembroides subsp. edulis (Engelm.) A.E.Murray; Pinus cembroides var. edulis (Engelm.) Voss; Pinus monophylla var. edulis (Engelm.) M.E.Jones);
Pinus edulis, the Colorado pinyon, two-needle pinyon, or piñon pine,[1] is a pine in the pinyon pine group whose ancestor was a member of the Madro-Tertiary Geoflora[2][a] (a group of drought resistant trees) and is native to the United States. The piñon pine (Pinus edulis) is a small to medium size tree, reaching 10 metres (33 ft) – 20 metres (66 ft) tall and with a trunk diameter of up to 80 centimetres (31 in), rarely more. The bark is irregularly furrowed and scaly. The leaves (‘needles’) are in pairs, moderately stout, 3 centimetres (1.2 in) – 5.5 centimetres (2.2 in) long, and green, with stomata on both inner and outer surfaces but distinctly more on the inner surface forming a whitish band.
The cones are globose, 3 centimetres (1.2 in) to 5 centimetres (2.0 in) long and broad when closed, green at first, ripening yellow-buff when 18–20 months old, with only a small number of thick scales, with typically 5-10 fertile scales. The cones open to 4 centimetres (1.6 in) – 6 centimetres (2.4 in) broad when mature, holding the seeds on the scales after opening. The seeds are 10 millimetres (0.39 in) to 14 millimetres (0.55 in) long, with a thin shell, a white endosperm, and a vestigial 1 millimetre (0.039 in) – 2 millimetres (0.079 in) wing; they are dispersed by the Pinyon Jay, which plucks the seeds out of the open cones. The jay, which uses the seeds as a food resource, stores many of the seeds for later use, and some of these stored seeds are not used and are able to grow into new trees.
The edible seeds, pine nuts, are extensively collected throughout its range; in many areas, the seed harvest rights are owned by Native American tribes, for whom the species is of immense cultural and economic importance.
Gymnosperms Fortnight- Pinaceae- Pinus edulis from California-GS-32 : Attachments (3). 1 post by 1 author.
Pinus edulis, 2-leaved with stouter leaves.
Photographed from Sunnyvale, California.
Pine tree seen in Fremont on 28th Sept,14.
A huge tree.
Pinus roxburghii -Chir Pine
Leaves 2 per spur, cones small, should be P. edulis. Thanks for the correct id.
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