Pinus jeffreyi

{{Speciesbox

| status = LC

| status_system = IUCN3.1

| status_ref = {{cite iucn |author=Farjon, A. |date=2013 |title=Pinus jeffreyi |volume=2013 |page=e.T42371A2975870 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T42371A2975870.en |access-date=19 November 2021}}

| image = Mature Jeffrey Pine.JPG

| image_caption = A stand of Pinus jeffreyi growing on volcanic table lands south of Mono Lake, California

| parent = Pinus subsect. Ponderosae

| display_parents = 3

| taxon = Pinus jeffreyi

| authority = Balf.

| range_map = Pinus jeffreyi range map 1.png

}}

Pinus jeffreyi, also known as Jeffrey pine, Jeffrey's pine, yellow pine{{cite journal |last1= Elliot |first1= Daniel Giraud |title= A List of Mammals obtained by Edmund Heller from the Coast Region of Northern California and Oregon |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/20354#page/9/mode/1up |journal=Field Columbian Museum Publication, Zoological Series |volume=3 |issue=11 |pages=175–197 |year=1904 }} and black pine,{{ITIS|id=183345|taxon=Pinus jeffreyi|access-date=2018-11-03}} is a North American pine tree. It is mainly found in California, but also in the westernmost part of Nevada, southwestern Oregon, and northern Baja California.Safford, H.D. 2013. Natural Range of Variation (NRV) for yellow pine and mixed conifer forests in the bioregional assessment area, including the Sierra Nevada, southern Cascades, and Modoc and Inyo National Forests. Unpublished report. USDA Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Region, Vallejo, CA, [http://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5434331.pdf]{{rp|4}} It is named in honor of its botanist documenter John Jeffrey.

Description

Pinus jeffreyi is a large coniferous evergreen tree, reaching {{convert|25|to|40|m|sp=us}} tall, rarely up to {{convert|53|m|abbr=on}} tall, though smaller when growing at or near tree line. The leaves are needle-like, in bundles of three, stout, glaucous gray-green, {{convert|12 to 28|cm|frac=4|sp=us}} long.{{Cite book |last1=Turner |first1=Mark |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VLbAAwAAQBAJ |title=Trees & Shrubs of the Pacific Northwest |last2=Kuhlmann |first2=Ellen |date=2014 |publisher=Timber Press |isbn=978-1-60469-263-1 |edition=1st |location=Portland, OR |pages=78}} The cones are {{convert|12 to 30|cm|abbr=on|frac=4}} long,{{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=57–58|language=en|oclc=1141235469|orig-date=1977}} dark purple when immature, ripening pale brown, with thinly woody scales bearing a short, sharp inward-pointing barb. The brownish seeds are {{convert|10|to|12|mm|frac=8|sp=us}} long, with a large wing, measuring {{convert|15|to|25|mm|abbr=on|frac=8}}.

Pinus jeffreyi is closely related to Pinus ponderosa (ponderosa pine) and is similar in appearance. One way to distinguish between them is by their cones. Each has barbs at the end of the scales. The sharp P. jeffreyi cone scale barbs point inward, so the cone feels smooth to the palm of one's hand when rubbed down the cone. Pinus ponderosa cone scale barbs point outward, so feel sharp and prickly to the palm of one's hands. The memory device of 'gentle Jeffrey' and 'prickly ponderosa' can be used to differentiate between the species. Another distinguishing characteristic is that the needles of P. jeffreyi are glaucous, less bright green than those of P. ponderosa, and by the stouter, heavier cones with larger seeds and inward-pointing barbs.{{cite book |last1=Moore|first1=Gerry |last2=Kershner|first2=Bruce |first3=Craig|last3=Tufts |first4=Daniel|last4=Mathews |first5=Gil|last5=Nelson |last6=Spellenberg|first6=Richard |last7=Thieret|first7=John W. |first8=Terry|last8=Purinton |last9=Block|first9=Andrew|display-authors=4 |title=National Wildlife Federation Field Guide to Trees of North America |publisher=Sterling |location=New York |year=2008 |page=86 |isbn=978-1-4027-3875-3}} Pinus jeffreyi can be somewhat distinguished from P. ponderosa by the relatively smaller scales of reddish-brown bark as compared to the larger plates of orangish ponderosa bark.

The scent of P. jeffreyi is variously described as reminiscent of vanilla, lemon, pineapple, violets, apple,{{cite web|url=http://www.enature.com/flashcard/show_flash_card.asp?recordNumber=TS0040|title=Jeffrey Pine|work=enature.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110614142314/http://www.enature.com/flashcard/show_flash_card.asp?recordNumber=TS0040|archive-date=2011-06-14}} and, quite commonly, butterscotch.{{cite book|title=Wild Plants of the Sierra Nevada|first1=Ray S.|last1=Vizgirdas|first2=Edna M.|last2=Rey-Vizgirdas|year=2006|publisher=University of Nevada Press|location=Reno, Nevada}} This scent may be sampled by breaking off a shoot or some needles, or by simply smelling the resin's scent in between the plates of the bark. This scent is related to the very unusual composition of the resin, with the volatile component made up almost entirely of pure n-heptane. It is because of this peculiarity that the trees are sometimes known as gasoline trees. Easy availability of this hydrocarbon in pure form made it the basis of the modern octane rating in the late 1920s.{{Cite book |last=Hill |first=Cary Le Roy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hAsRvdX33p8C&pg=PA13 |title=Experiments in the Production of Heptane by the Tapping of Jeffrey Pine in California |date=1932 |publisher=California Forest Experiment Station |pages=13 |language=en}}{{Cite book |last=Arno |first=Stephen F. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DDTm1_9Pdy8C&pg=PA11 |title=Discovering Sierra Trees |date=1973 |publisher=Yosemite Natural History Association |isbn=978-0-939666-04-1 |pages=11 |language=en}}

The largest specimen, by trunk volume, is the Eureka Valley Giant, in the Stanislaus National Forest. Its trunk contains {{convert|129|m3|abbr=on}} of wood, is {{convert|59|m|abbr=on}} tall, with a diameter of {{convert|2.5|m|ftin|abbr=on}}.{{cite book|title=Forest Giants of the Pacific Coast|url=https://archive.org/details/forestgiantsofpa0000vanp|url-access=registration|first=Robert|last=Van Pelt|year=2001|page=[https://archive.org/details/forestgiantsofpa0000vanp/page/108 108]|publisher=Global Forest Society}}

Taxonomy

Pinus jeffreyi is named for its discoverer, Scottish botanist John Jeffrey, who encountered it in 1852 near Mount Shasta.{{Cite book |last=Ritter |first=Matt |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/1036213303 |title=California plants : a guide to our iconic flora |publisher=Pacific Street |year=2018 |isbn=978-0-9998960-0-6 |oclc=1036213303}} Pinus is Latin for pine.{{Cite web |title=Pinus jeffreyi, Jeffrey pine {{!}} Trees of Stanford & Environs |url=https://trees.stanford.edu/ENCYC/PINjeff.htm#:~:text=Name%20derivation:%20Pinus%20%E2%80%93%20Latin%20for,Botanic%20Garden,%20who%20discovered%20it. |access-date=2022-10-04 |website=trees.stanford.edu}}

Distribution and habitat

Pinus jeffreyi occurs from southwest Oregon south through much of California (mainly on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada), to northern Baja California in Mexico. It is a high-altitude species; in the north of its range, it grows widely at {{convert|1500|to|2100|m|abbr=on}} altitude, and at {{convert|1800|to|2900|m|abbr=on}} in the south of its range.{{Silvics |first=James L. |last=Jenkinson |volume=1 |genus=Pinus |species=jeffreyi}}

Pinus jeffreyi is more stress tolerant than P. ponderosa. At higher elevations, on poorer soils, in colder climates, and in drier climates, P. jeffreyi replaces P. ponderosa as the dominant tree. Pinus jeffreyi is also tolerant of serpentine soils and is often dominant in these conditions, even on dry sites at fairly low altitudes.

File:Jeffrey pine Siskiyou Wilderness.jpg of northwest California, growing on serpentine]]

Ecology

Pinus jeffreyi can hybridize with P. ponderosa and the Coulter pine, however this occurrence is rare due to the fact that the pines release pollen at different times of the year.{{Cite web |title=PinusieffreyiGrev |url=https://www.srs.fs.usda.gov/pubs/misc/ag_654/volume_1/pinus/jeffreyi.htm |access-date=2022-10-17 |website=www.srs.fs.usda.gov}}

Mammals and birds collect the seeds.

Uses

Pinus jeffreyi wood is similar to ponderosa pine wood, and is used for the same purposes. Crystallized sap of P. jeffreyi has been eaten as candy. The exceptional purity of {{Nowrap|n-heptane}} distilled from P. jeffreyi resin led to {{Nowrap|n-heptane}} being selected as the zero point on the octane rating scale of petrol.

As it mainly consists of n-heptane, P. jeffreyi resin is a poor source of turpentine.{{cite web|url=http://plants.usda.gov/plantguide/pdf/pg_pije.pdf|title=Jeffrey Pine|work=NRCS Plant Guide|publisher=USDA}} Before Pinus jeffreyi was distinguished from ponderosa pine as a distinct species in 1853, resin distillers operating in its range suffered a number of "inexplicable" explosions during distillation,{{cite journal |last1=Smith|first1=C. Stowell|date=1914-12-04 |title=Turpentine possibilities on the pacific coast|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P6hec39aNmYC&pg=PA327 |journal=Proceedings of the Society of American Foresters|volume=IX |issue=1 |pages=327–338 |access-date=2019-12-22 }} now known to have been caused by the unwitting use of Jeffrey pine resin.