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Pinus quadrifolia

Pinus quadrifolia
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Scientific name: Pinus quadrifolia Parlatore ex Sudworth 1897

Synonyms: Pinus cembroides var. juarezensis (Lanner) Silba, Pinus cembroides subsp. parryana (Voss) A.E.Murray, Pinus cembroides var. parryana Voss, Pinus cembroides var. quadrifolia (Parl. ex Sudw.) Silba, Pinus juarezensis Lanner, Pinus llaveana Torr., Pinus parryana Engelm., Pinus quadrifolia subsp. juarezensis (Lanner) Silba

Common names: Parry pinyon, Four-leaf pinyon

 

Description

Tree to 10(-16) m tall, with trunk to 0.5(-0.7) m in diameter. Bark reddish brown and smooth at first, flaking, becoming grayish brown, and finally breaking up into roughly rectangular blocks separated by shallow furrows. Crown dense, conical when young, broadening, rounding and becoming more open with age, with numerous upwardly angled to horizontal branches sparsely clothed with foliage at the ends. Twigs yellowish brown, hairless to minutely hairy, grayish and balding with age. Buds 4-8(-14) mm long, slightly resinous. Needles in bundles of (one to) three to five (or six), sticking together during the first year, each needle (1.5-)3-5(-6) cm long, green to bluish green. Individual needles with stomatal bands usually confined to the inner faces, an undivided midvein, and (one or) two (or three) large resin canals visible beneath the epidermis of the outer face. Sheath 5-9 mm long, curling back and soon shed. Pollen cones 7-10 mm long, reddish purple. Seed cones (3-)4-6(-7) cm long, broadly egg-shaped to almost spherical, with 25-35(-50) seed scales, green before maturity, ripening yellowish brown, opening widely to release the seeds and then falling along with the short, slender stalk. Seed scales paddle-shaped, with deep seed cavities, the exposed portion diamond-shaped and pyramidally thickened on the face, ending in a strong diamond-shaped umbo. Seed body (12-)14-17(-18) mm long, the shell 0.2-0.3 mm thick, the rudimentary wing remaining attached to the seed scale.

Parry pinyon is one of the most variable pinyon pines in the number of needles in each bundle among trees within individual populations. Four is the most common number (hence the scientific name, “four leaves” in Latin), but some trees are almost entirely five-needled, and three-needled bundles are common, while bundles of one and two needles may also be found

Peninsular ranges of southern California to the Sierra San Pedro Martír of northern Baja California (Mexico). Sometimes forming pure stands but more commonly mixed with other small trees on dry, rocky slopes in a band of pinyon-juniper-oak woodland between the chaparral and coastal sage scrub below and the montane conifer forest above; (900-)1,100-2,500(-2,700) m.

 

Conservation Status

Red List Category & Criteria: Least Concern

Pinus quadrifolia's extent of occurrence, while not large, falls outside the threshold of a threatened category. Depending on the chosen grid width, here taken as 5 km for 51 mapped localities = 1,150 km² this species falls within the area of occupancy limit for Vulerable (2,000 km²) but there is no evidence of decline. The species is not a timber tree and is adapted to fires that occur regularly in the region. On this basis it is assessed as Least Concern.

This species is known from numerous localities where is can range from a few individual trees to thousands. It grows between the semi-desert and the chaparral scrub zones (and partly within the latter) and the mixed coniferous forest on the highest parts of the mountains. It is more widely distributed and often more common than Pinus monophylla in the Pinyon-Juniper woodland, but occurs often with it. Pinus jeffreyi is the only other pine with which it occurs in Mexico. Juniperus californica and Quercus turbinella are common; in the chaparral zone many shrubs, e.g. Adenostoma, Ceanothus, Artemisia, Cercocarpus, Rhus, Eriodictyon, Arctostaphylos, and Yucca, dominate. Most of these mountains are granitic, but in the south of the ranges more volcanic rock is found. Pinus quadrifolia often grows in cracks among boulders. Annual precipitation is a moderate 300-500 mm, but it is very variable; most of it comes during winter cyclonic storms and there is a long dry season from spring through summer. Phenology: pollen dispersal is in March-April.

No specific threats have been identified for this species. There is no use of this species for timber. It is locally used for firewood. The seeds are edible and are harvested to be sold in local markets. Resin may be tapped on a small scale as well. It is not in cultivation outside a few botanic gardens and other collections.

This species occurs in several protected areas on either side of the Mexico-USA border.

 

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.


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