Pinus cembroides

Pinus cembroides is a small to medium-size tree, reaching {{convert|8 to 20|m|ft}} tall and with a trunk diameter of up to {{convert|50|cm}}. The bark is dark brown, thick and deeply fissured at the base of the trunk. The leaves ('needles') are in mixed pairs and threes, slender, {{convert|3|cm|abbr=on|frac=4}} to {{convert|6|cm|abbr=on|frac=4}} long, and dull yellowish green, with stomata on both inner and outer surfaces.

The cones are globose, {{convert|3|cm|abbr=on|frac=4}} to {{convert|4|cm|abbr=on|frac=4}} long and broad when closed, green at first, ripening yellow-brown when 18–20 months old, with only a small number of thick scales, with typically 5-12 fertile scales. The cones open to {{convert|4|cm|abbr=on|frac=4}} to {{convert|5|cm|abbr=on|frac=4}} broad when mature, holding the seeds on the scales after opening. The seeds are {{convert|10|mm|abbr=on|frac=8}} to {{convert|12|mm|abbr=on|frac=8}} long, with a thick shell, a pink endosperm, and a vestigial {{convert|2|mm|abbr=on|frac=16}} wing.{{Citation needed|date=November 2024}}

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|File:Big Bend National Park PB122661.jpg|Tree

|File:Pinus cembroides - foliage.jpg|Foliage

|File:Pinus cembroides.jpg|Detail of foliage, cones

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Mexican pinyon was the first pinyon pine described, named by Zuccarini in 1832. Many of the other pinyon pines have been treated as varieties or subspecies of it at one time or another in the past, but research in the last 10–50 years has shown that most are distinct species. Some botanists still include Johann's pinyon and Orizaba pinyon in Mexican pinyon; the former accounts for records of "Mexican pinyon" in southern Arizona and New Mexico.

Mexican pinyon is a relatively non-variable species, with constant morphology over the entire range except for the disjunct population in the Sierra de la Laguna pine-oak forests of Baja California Sur; this is generally treated as a subspecies, Pinus cembroides subsp. lagunae, although some botanists treat it as a separate species, P. lagunae. This subspecies differs from the type in having slightly longer leaves, between {{convert|4|cm|abbr=on|frac=4}} and {{convert|7|cm|abbr=on|frac=4}} and longer, narrower cones, up to {{convert|5.5|cm|abbr=on|frac=4}} long.{{Citation needed|date=November 2024}}

The range extends from westernmost Texas, United States (where it is restricted to the Chisos and Davis Mountains), south through much of Mexico, occurring widely along the Sierra Madre Oriental and Sierra Madre Occidental ranges, and more rarely in the eastern Eje Volcánico Transversal range.{{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=93 |isbn=978-1-4027-3875-3}} It lives in areas with little rainfall, which fluctuates between {{convert|380 to 640|mm|abbr=on}}.

The subspecies Pinus orizabensis (orizabensis) is found farther south in the state of Veracruz. There is also a disjunct population in the Sierra de la Laguna of southern Baja California Sur. It occurs at moderate altitudes, mostly from {{convert|1600 to 2400|m|abbr=on}}, which some authorities consider a separate species (P. lagunae).{{Citation needed|date=November 2024}}

The seeds are dispersed by the Mexican jay, which plucks the seeds out of the open cones. The jay, which uses the seeds as a major food resource, stores many of the seeds for later use, and some of these stored seeds are not used and are able to grow into new trees. Abert's squirrel also feeds on the seeds in preference to those of the ponderosa pine.Hall, Joseph G. 1973. The Kiabab squirrel. In: Symposium on rare and endangered wildlife of the southwestern United States: Proceedings; 1972 September 22–23; Albuquerque, New Mexico. Santa Fe, New Mexico: New Mexico Department of Game and Fish: 18–21

It is a common pine with a wide range and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated its conservation status as being of "least concern".

The seeds are widely collected in Mexico, being the main edible pine nut in the region. While palatable when raw, their flavor is considered to be improved when roasted.{{cite book |last=Peattie |first=Donald Culross |author-link=Donald C. Peattie |title=A Natural History of Western Trees |year=1953 |publisher=Bonanza Books |location=New York |page=66}}

{{Reflist}}

• [http://www.pinetum.org/PhotoMPF.htm Photos of Pinus cembroides tree and foliage]
• [http://www.pinetum.org/cones/PNDucampopinus.htm Photo of cones (scroll half-way down)]

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Cembroides

Category:Flora of Central Mexico

Category:Flora of Northeastern Mexico

Category:Flora of Northwestern Mexico

Category:Flora of the South-Central United States

Category:Flora of Arizona

Category:Flora of Jalisco

Category:Flora of Michoacán

Category:Flora of Nayarit

Category:Flora of Veracruz

Category:Edible nuts and seeds

Category:Plants used in Native American cuisine

Category:Trees of Northern America