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Scientific name: Pinus flexilis var. reflexa Engelmann 1879
Synonyms: Pinus ayacahuite var. reflexa (Engelm.) Voss, Pinus flexilis subsp. reflexa (Engelm.) A.E.Murray, Pinus reflexa (Engelm.) Engelm.
Common names: Southwestern White pine
Trees to 10-15(-20) m tall, d.b.h. to 1-1.5 m, trunk straight or contorted, branching very low. Bark thin, rough and scaly, breaking into small, scaly plates, brown, weathering grey. Branches ascending or spreading, of higher orders slender, flexible, assurgent. Shoots initially puberulent, soon glabrous, grey-green to grey. Cataphylls 5-10 mm long, subulate, scarious, brown. Vegetative buds ovoid or subglobose, terminal bud 8-15 mm long, lateral buds smaller, resinous. Leaves in fascicles of 5, persisting (3-)5-6 years, straight or slightly curved, sometimes twisted, lax, (5-)6-9 cm long, 0.8-1.2 mm wide, with remotely serrulate to nearly entire margins, acute to acuminate, dark green on abaxial face, glaucous to white stomatal lines on both adaxial faces. Pollen cones ovoid-oblong, 6-10 mm long, yellow. Seed cones subterminal, solitary, in pairs or in whorls of 3(-4), on stout, to 15 mm long peduncles falling with cone. Mature cones subpendulous, cylindrical, straight or slightly curved when closed, ovoid-cylindrical or broad-cylindrical when opened, then 10-15 × 4-6 cm. Seed scales imbricate but spreading at maturity to release seeds. Seeds broadly obovoid, flattened, 10-15 × 8-10 mm, dark brown, sometimes with blackish spots. Seed wings vestigial to very small, reduced to a narrow strip around the distal part of the seed up to 5 mm wide, or absent when the seed is free from the scale.
Recorded from the southwestern USA (Arizona, New Mexico, SW Texas) and extending into northern Mexico in scattered localities in Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León and NE Sonora; 1,900-3,300 m.
Red List Category & Criteria: Near Threatened
Pinus flexilis var. reflexa is a rare variety limited to five known locations with a small area of occupancy less than 2,000 km². There is no evidence of continuing decline at present hence this variety is assessed as Near Threatened. Regular monitoring is required as any of the threats impacting the typical variety could very quickly have an adverse impact on this variety and it may then qualify for listing in a more threatened category.
This taxon is much more scattered than Pinus flexilis which occurs to the north of it, and is restricted to the highest altitudes of the mountains in northern Mexico and the southwest of the USA. Populations are accordingly disjunct and often small.
Pinus flexilis var. reflexa is a conifer tree of subalpine habitats on the highest mountains within its range. Occurs between 1,900 and 3,000 m asl. The species is one of several in the genus Pinus of western North America that can withstand extreme conditions of climate on bare rock or scree without any other vegetation cover. On these sites it occurs either alone or with Pinus aristata in the SE and Pinus longaeva in the SW. The seeds, which only have rudimentary wings, are mostly dispersed by rodents and birds.
White Pine Blister Rust (WPBR) caused by the non-native pathogen Cronartium ribicola does not appear to have reached the isolated subpopulations of this variety. Likewise, no epidemics of Mountain Pine Beetle (MPB) have been reported yet. However, as soon as either of these threats starts to impact this variety, it will quickly qualify for a more threatened category. The combination of WPBR with the MPB epidemic compromises the regeneration cycle of the pine populations and reduces their resilience to recover from this and any other disturbances. Extirpation of subpopulations is probable.
No uses have been recorded for Pinus flexilis var. reflexa. It is probably too rare and remote for it to be of commercial value.
The variety is probably present in some protected areas. The population of this variety should be regularly monitored to detect the presence of WPBR or MPB.
Copyright © Aljos Farjon, James E. Eckenwalder, IUCN, Conifers Garden. All rights reserved.
