Pinus engelmannii

Scientific name: Pinus engelmannii Carrière  1854

Synonyms:Pinus apacheca Lemmon, Pinus latifolia Sarg., Pinus macrophylla Engelm., Pinus mayriana Sudw.

Common names:Apache pine, Pino real (Spanish)

Description

Tree to 25(-35) m tall, with trunk to 0.8(-1) m in diameter. Bark brown, with narrow, elongate, scaly, flat plates divided by shallow furrows. Crown deeply domed, open, with fairly thick, horizontal branches densely clothed with foliage at the ends. Twigs grayish brown, very stout (1-2 cm through), very rough with the bases of scale leaves, hairless. Buds 15-25(-30) mm long, variably resinous. Needles in bundles of three (to five), each needle (18-)25-35(-45) cm long, stiff but drooping because of their length, lasting 2(-3) years, yellowish green to dull green or even slightly bluish green. Individual needles with numerous narrow but conspicuous lines of stomates on all three faces, and (2-)3-6(-14) resin canals at the corners and in between midway between the surface and the two-stranded midvein. Sheath 30-45 mm long at first, the lower 15-25 mm persisting and falling with the bundle. Pollen cones 20-40 mm long, yellowish brown. Seed cones (8-)10-15(-18) cm long, egg-shaped with a flat to conical base, a little asymmetrical, with 75-150 seed scales, green before maturity, ripening light brown to light yellowish brown, opening widely to release the seeds and then falling, leaving a few basal scales behind on the stout, usually extremely short (but up to 1.5 cm) stalk. Seed scales paddle-shaped, the exposed face projecting in a pyramid topped by an umbo with a sharp, stout spine. Seed body 5-8 mm long, the firmly attached or easily detachable wing another 18-25 mm longer.

Southeastern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico through the Sierra Madre Occidental to southern Zacatecas, with outliers in the Sierra Madre Oriental in Coahuila and Tamaulipas (Mexico). Mixed with other species in open pine-oak woodlands on varied dry sites in the mountains; (1,200-)1,500-2,500(-3,000) m.

Conservation Status

Red List Category & Criteria: Least Concern

(Pinus engelmannii is very widespread in Mexico and in many places common: it is therefore assessed as Least Concern)

References

Farjon, A. (2010). A Handbook of the World's Conifers. Koninklijke Brill, Leiden.

Eckenwalder, J.E. (2009) Conifers of the World: The Complete Reference. Timber Press, Portland.

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. Cambridge, UK /Gland, Switzerland

Copyright © Aljos Farjon, James E. Eckenwalder, IUCN, Conifers Garden. All rights reserved.