Stem: young crown conic, mature often rounded or flat; branches +- whorled in young plants; young bark smooth, mature furrowed; bud +- conic, generally resinous.
Leaf: generally 2.5--35 cm, generally sessile, in bundles of (1)2--5; bundles 1 in axils of alternate, awl-like bracts, base in a sometimes deciduous, scaly sheath of bracts, generally persistent several years.
Seed Cone: often whorled, generally maturing, opening 2nd year, persistent on stem or not; stalk 0 or < 16 cm; bract included, fused to scale at least basally, minute; scale tip reflexed, elongated 3--7 cm or often with a rounded or angled, often prickled knob < 3 cm.
Seed: coat hard, woody or not.
Chromosomes: 2n=24.
Species In Genus: 94 species: northern hemisphere.
Etymology: (Latin: pine)
Note: Pinus pinea L., stone pine (leaves 2 per bundle, 10--30 cm; seed cone 8--15 cm, maturing in 3 years) cultivated in Europe for over 6000 years for edible seeds (pine nuts), reportedly naturalized in SnFrB, northern ChI.
Unabridged Note: Morphological, genetic study of relationships among Pinus jeffreyi, Pinus ponderosa, and Pinus washoensis indicates that the taxa should be classified as 2 species, Pinus jeffreyi and Pinus ponderosa, and that the latter comprises three varieties: Pinus ponderosa var. pacifica (new taxon), Pinus ponderosa var. ponderosa, and Pinus ponderosa var. washoensis (new combination).Jepson eFlora Author: J. Robert Haller & Nancy J. Vivrette
Unabridged Reference: Millar & Critchfield 1988 Madroño 35:39--53Index of California Plant Names (ICPN; linked via the Jepson Online Interchange)Key to Pinus
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