Pinus balfouriana

Pinus balfouriana
Foxtail Pine
Conservation status

Near Threatened  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Pinophyta
Class: Pinopsida
Order: Pinales
Family: Pinaceae
Genus: Pinus
Subgenus: Ducampopinus
Species: P. balfouriana
Binomial name
Pinus balfouriana
Balf.
Natural range of Pinus balfouriana

Pinus balfouriana (foxtail pine) is a rare pine that is endemic to California, United States. The two disjunct populations are found in the Klamath Mountains (subspecies balfouriana) and the southern Sierra Nevada[2] (subspecies austrina). A small outlying population was reported in southern Oregon, but was proven to have been misidentified.[3]

Description

P. balfouriana is a tree to 10–20 m (33–66 ft) tall, exceptionally 35 m (115 ft), and up to 2 m (7 ft) in trunk diameter. Its leaves are needle-like, in bundles of five (or sometimes four, in the southern Sierra) with a semi-persistent basal sheath, and 2–4 cm (0.8–1.6 in) long, deep glossy green on the outer face, and white on the inner faces; they persist for 10–15 years. The cones are 6–11 cm (2 3⁄8 - 4 5⁄16 in) long, dark purple ripening red-brown, with soft, flexible scales each with a one millimetre central prickle.

A Foxtail Pine in the southern Sierra Nevada.

Distribution

P. balfouriana occurs in the subalpine forest at an elevation of 1,950–2,750 m (6,400–9,020 ft) in the Klamath Mountains, and at 2,300–3,500 m (7,500–11,500 ft) in the Sierra Nevada. In the Sierra Nevada, Foxtail pines are limited to the area around Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. In both areas, it is often a tree line species.

Age

It is thought that P. balfouriana can live up to 3000 years in the Sierra Nevada, although the highest currently proven age is 2110 years. In the Klamath Mountains, ages are only known to about 1000 years.

In the Yolla Bolly-Middle Eel Wilderness.

Related species

P. balfouriana is closely related to the bristlecone pines, being classified in the same subsection Balfourianae; it has been hybridised with the Great Basin Bristlecone Pine in cultivation, though no hybrids have ever been found in the wild.

References

  1. ↑ Farjon, A. (2011). "Pinus balfouriana". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 3.1. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 2013-11-10.
  2. ↑ 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. 83. ISBN 1-4027-3875-7.
  3. ↑ Kauffmann, Michael E. (2012). Conifer Country. Kneeland, CA: Backcountry Press. ISBN 9780578094168.OCLC 798852130.

Further reading

External links

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