Pinus pseudostrobus

Scientific name: Pinus pseudostrobus Lindley 1839

Synonyms:Pinus angulata Roezl, Pinus coatepecensis (Martínez) Gaussen, Pinus estevezii (Martínez) J.P.Perry, Pinus heteromorpha Roezl, Pinus nubicola J.P.Perry, Pinus orizabae Gordon, Pinus prasina Roezl, Pinus protuberans Roezl, Pinus regeliana Roezl, Pinus yecorensis Debreczy & I.Rácz

Common names: False Weymouth pine, Smooth-bark Mexican pine, Mexican false white pine, Pino lacio, Pino liso (Spanish)

Description

Tree to 40(-50) m tall, with trunk to 1(-1.5) m in diameter. Bark grayish brown or dark reddish brown, long remaining smooth but finally breaking up into rough scaly ridges or broader, flat-topped plates separated by deep furrows. Crown cylindrical to dome-shaped or even spherical, dense to open, with numerous thin, gently rising branches clothed with drooping foliage at the tips. Twigs coarse, reddish brown, conspicuously bluish waxy at first, smooth or rough with the bases of scale leaves, hairless. Buds 12-20 mm long, not resinous. Needles in bundles of (four or) five (to eight), each needle (15-)20-30(-40) cm long, thin, flexible, and variously drooping, lasting 2-3 years, dark yellowish green to bright green or even a little waxy bluish green. Individual needles with several conspicuous lines of stomates on all three faces, and (two or) three or four (to six) resin canals at the corners and around the two-stranded midvein usually midway between I and the outer needle surface. Sheath 20-30(-35) mm long, weathering to 15-25 mm long and persisting and falling with the bundle. Pollen cones densely clustered, 2-3(-3.5) cm long, light reddish brown. Seed cones (6-)10-15(-18) cm long, broadly to narrowly egg-shaped or cylindrical, usually symmetrical and slightly curved, with 100-200 seed scales, green before maturity, ripening shiny to dull yellowish brown to reddish brown, opening widely to release the seeds and then falling, leaving behind a few basal scales on the short, stout stalks to 1(-2) cm long. Seed scales roughly rectangular to wedge-shaped, the exposed portion horizontally diamond-shaped, almost flat to greatly protruding, especially on the lower scales away from the twig, the umbo more prominent on more protruding scales, sometimes tipped with a small, fragile prickle. Seed body 5-7(-10) mm long, the clasping seed wing another 18-25 mm long.

Mountains of Central America and Mexico, from La Paz (Honduras) north to central Nuevo León and southern Sinaloa (Mexico). Commonly mixed with other species in moist or dry pine forests; (800-)1,800-2,800(-3,250) m.

Conservation Status

Red List Category & Criteria: Least Concern

(As this species is widespread and abundant throughout most of the southern half of Mexico and into Central America, it is 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

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