Knobcone pine
{{Short description|Pine tree found in North America}}
{{speciesbox
| image = Pinus attenuata1 Shultzc.jpg
| image_caption =
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| genus = Pinus
| parent = Pinus subsect. Australes
| display_parents = 3
| species = attenuata
| authority = Lemmon
| range_map = Pinus attenuata range map 1.png
}}
The knobcone pine, Pinus attenuata (also called Pinus tuberculata),{{cite book|last1=Chase|first1=J. Smeaton|title=Cone-bearing Trees of the California Mountains|publisher=A.C. McClurg & Co.|others=Eytel, Carl (illustrations)|year=1911|location=Chicago|pages=32–34|chapter=Pinus tuberculata, Also called P. attenuta (Knob-cone-pine, Scrub-pine)|lccn=11004975|oclc=3477527|author-link1=J. Smeaton Chase|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/conebearingtrees00chas/page/32/mode/2up}} is a tree that grows in mild climates on poor soils. It ranges from the mountains of southern Oregon to Baja California with the greatest concentration in northern California and the Oregon-California border.{{cite book |author1=Moore, Gerry |author2=Kershner, Bruce |author3=Craig Tufts |author4=Daniel Mathews |author5=Gil Nelson |author6=Spellenberg, Richard |author7=Thieret, John W. |author8=Terry Purinton |author9=Block, Andrew |title=National Wildlife Federation Field Guide to Trees of North America |publisher=Sterling |location=New York |year=2008 |page= 85|isbn=978-1-4027-3875-3}}
Description
Individual specimens can live up to a century.{{Cite book |last1=Arno |first1=Stephen F. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1141235469 |title=Northwest Trees: Identifying & Understanding the Region's Native Trees |last2=Hammerly |first2=Ramona P. |publisher=Mountaineers Books |year=2020 |isbn=978-1-68051-329-5 |edition=field guide |location=Seattle |pages=58–61 |language=en |oclc=1141235469 |orig-date=1977}} The crown is usually conical with a straight trunk. It reaches heights of {{convert|8|-|24|m|ft|sp=us|abbr=off}},{{Gymnosperm Database |family=Pinaceae |genus=Pinus |species=attenuata }} but can be a shrub on especially poor sites. The bark is thin and smooth, flaky and gray-brown when young, becoming dark gray-red-brown and shallowly furrowed into flat scaly ridges in age. The twigs are red-brown and often resinous. Its wood is knotty and of little interest for lumber.
The leaves are in fascicles of three,[https://web.archive.org/web/20070315152636/http://www.enature.com/fieldguides/detail.asp?source=&parkid=&searchText=&allSpecies=&shapeID=0&lshapeID=22&curAbbr=&lastView=default&lastGroup=10&lastRegion=&lastFilter=4&lastShapeName=&trackType=&curRegionID=&size=&habitat=&fruit=&color=&sortBy=family&curFamilyID=696®ionSelect=All+regions®ionZIP=&curGroupID=10&lgfromWhere=&curPageNum=27 eNature Field Guides (2007) Knobcone Pine] needle-like, yellow-green, twisted, and {{Convert|9–15|cm|sp=us|frac=4}} long. The cones are resin-sealed and irregularly shaped, {{Convert|8–16|cm|abbr=on|frac=4}} long and clustered in whorls of three to six on the branches. The scales end in a short stout prickle. Cones can sometimes be found attached to the trunk and larger branches.
File:Pinaceae Knobcone Pine Pinus attenuata.jpg|Leaves
File:H20130601-8518—Pinus attenuata—Walker Ridge (9233604022).jpg|male cones
File:Pinus attenuata BLM7.jpg|Cones
File:Knobcone_Pine_Cone.jpg|Knobcone pine cone
File:Pinus attenuata Big Basin 5.jpg|Plant
File:Pinus attenuata Big Basin 4.jpg|Habitat
Distribution
Ecology
On the coast, the knobcone pine may hybridize with bishop pine (Pinus muricata), and Monterey pine (Pinus radiata).
In the western foothills of the Sierra Nevada, knobcone pine is often a co-dominant with blue oak (Quercus douglasii).Hogan, C. Michael (2008). [https://web.archive.org/web/20120228073950/http://globaltwitcher.auderis.se/artspec_information.asp?thingid=85046 Blue Oak: Quercus douglasii, GlobalTwitcher.com, ed. Nicklas Stromberg]
The species is susceptible to fire, but this melts the cone resin, releasing seeds for regrowth. The species seems to be shade intolerant.
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
Further reading
- Bakker, Elna S. (1971). An island called California. University of California press (1972). {{ISBN|0-520-02159-2}}
External links
{{Commons category|Pinus attenuata}}
- {{Jepson Manual |id=195,210,212 |link=1}}
- [http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=PIAT USDA Plants Profile: Pinus attenuata]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20060223015725/http://www.cnr.vt.edu/dendro/dendrology/syllabus/factsheet.cfm?ID=225 Virginia Tech Dendrology – Knobcone Pine]
- {{CalPhotos|Pinus|attenuata}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q2703208}}