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Scientific name: Pinus greggii Engelmann ex Parlatore 1868
Synonyms: Pinus greggii var. greggii
Infraspecific taxa: Pinus greggii var. australis Donahue & Lopez Upton 1999
Common names: Gregg's pine, Gregg pine (English), Pino Chino, Pino Garabato, Pino Ocote, Pino Prieto (Spanish)
Tree to 25 m tall, with trunk to 0.8 m in diameter. Bark grayish brown, long remaining smooth, becoming thick at the base of large trees and broadly ridged between deep furrows. Crown dome-shaped to cylindrical, open, with numerous horizontal branches well clothed with foliage. Twigs reddish brown to grayish brown, hairless, smooth, with shallow grooves between the bases of the scale leaves. Buds 8-15 mm long, not conspicuously resinous. Needles in bundles of three, each needle (7-)10-15 cm long, stiff and straight, lasting 3-4 years, shiny light green. Individual needles with several lines of stomates on all three faces, and two to four (to six) resin canals at the corners surrounding the two-stranded midvein midway to the needle surface. Sheath 8-10 mm long, weathering to (3-)5-8 mm or occasionally shed entirely, but usually persisting and falling with the bundle. Pollen cones 15-20 mm, yellowish brown. Seed cones in circles of three to six (to eight) around the twig, (6-)10-13(-15) cm long, egg-shaped to oblong, asymmetrical, especially at the base, with 60-120 seed scales, green before maturity, ripening shiny yellowish brown, remaining closed and attached to the branch by a very short, stout stalk for many years and gradually opening and releasing the seeds over time, beginning at the middle and often leaving the bottom scales closed like a handle. Seed scales broadly wedge-shaped, the exposed face diamond-shaped and flat with a small, flat umbo bearing a tiny, fragile prickle. Seed body 5-8 mm long, the clasping wing another 14-18(-20) mm longer. The serotinous cones indicate adaptation to fire, but no studies on how this affects seed dispersal and germination have been undertaken (or published).
The species name honors Josiah Gregg (1806 - 1850), who collected the type specimen and died during a later collecting trip.
Sierra Madre Oriental of Mexico, from southeastern Coahuila and central Nuevo León to northern Puebla. Mixed with other trees in varied forest types; 1,300-2,500(-2,700) m.
Red List Category & Criteria: Near Threatened
In 1999 it was discovered that the northern (var. greggii) and the southern (var. australis) populations are not only geographically disjunct, but differ morphologically as well as ecologically. This has lead to a split into two taxa, recognized at the rank of variety (Donahue and Lopez 1999).
Unlike the southern variety, this northern variety occurs in areas which are less intensively affected by land clearance for agriculture. Some decline may occur, but it is possibly balanced by regeneration elsewhere as this pine also establishes in secondary forest. Its area of occupancy (AOO) is very likely within the threshold for an Endangered listing, and the population is certainly fragmented, but it does not meet the continuing decline criterion under B which is needed to be listed as threatened. It is therefore listed as Near Threatened.
The size of subpopulations of this variety is generally smaller than of the southern variety australis with the majority covering less than 1,000 ha.
The altitudinal range of this species is 1,300-2,600 m, in the northern part of its distribution 2,300-2,700 m a.s.l. Annual precipitation varies between 600-800 mm in much of its range, except on the eastern escarpment of the mountain ranges along the Hidalgo-Veracruz borderline, where it is 1,000-1,600 mm. In the north it is more often found on slightly alkaline soils (pH 7.0-8.0), in the south on acid soils (pH 4.0-5.0). It is nowhere abundant in its scattered range, and always occurs mixed with e.g. Quercus, Platanus, Liquidambar, and Fraxinus, other pines, e.g. Pinus patula, Pinus pseudostrobus, Pinus teocote, Pinus montezumae, and Pinus arizonica var. stormiae, with Pinus cembroides and Juniperus flaccida on dry sites, and at higher and more mesic locations with Abies vejarii, Pseudotsuga menziesii, or Cupressus lusitanica.
Several populations are subject to wood extraction (general timber cutting), conversion of woodland to farmland, and grazing. Many subpopulations appear to have low regeneration levels. These impacts appear to be less severe than in the area of the southern variety and it has not been possible to establish whether there is a continuing decline.
Although locally exploited with other pines, Gregg's pine is not specifically in demand as a timber tree in Mexico. In many areas it has been severely depleted by general logging and overexploitation of forests. Foresters from abroad are taking an interest in its potential as a forest plantation tree in other countries; it has been introduced for that purpose in (among other countries) India, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Argentina, and Brazil. Like another, and probably related, "closed-cone" pine, Pinus radiata, it seems to grow much faster in trial plots than several other species. Gregg's pine is rare in cultivation and probably restricted to botanical collections (arboreta), although in Italy it is sometimes planted as an amenity tree.
Some locations are within protected areas - Sierra Gorda, Los Marmoles and Cuenca Hidrografica del Rio Necaxa Reserve.
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