familyPinaceae
genusPinus

Pinus aristata

Engelmann in Parry & Engelmann

in Parry & Engelmann,Amer. J. Sci. Arts ser. 2, 34: 331. 1862.

Common names: Colorado bristlecone pine
IllustratedEndemic
Synonyms: Pinus balfouriana var. aristata (Engelmann) Engelmann
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 2.

Trees to 15m; trunk to 1m diam., strongly tapering, twisted; crown rounded, flattened (sheared), or irregular. Bark gray to redbrown, shallowly fissured, with long, flat, irregular ridges. Branches contorted; twigs pale redbrown, aging gray, puberulent, young branches resembling long bottlebrushes because of persistent leaves. Buds ovoid-acuminate, pale redbrown, ca. 1cm, resinous. Leaves 5 per fascicle, upcurved, persisting 10–17 years, (2–) 3–4cm × 0.8–1mm, mostly connivent, deep blue-green, with drops and scales of resin, abaxial surface with strong, narrow median groove, adaxial surfaces conspicuously whitened by stomates, margins entire or distantly serrulate, apex conic-acute to conic-subulate; sheath 0.5–1.5cm, scales soon recurving, shed early. Pollen cones ellipsoid, ca. 10mm, bluish to red. Seed-cones maturing in 2 years, shedding seeds and falling soon thereafter, spreading, symmetric, lance-cylindric before opening, lanceovoid to ovoid or cylindric when open, 6–11cm, purple to brown, nearly sessile; apophyses much thickened; umbo central, with triangular base, extended into slender, brittle prickle 4–10mm. Seeds obliquely obovoid; body 5–6mm, gray-brown to near black; wing ca. 10–13mm. 2n =24.


Habitat: Subalpine and alpine
Elevation: 2500–3400m

Discussion

Pinus aristata has leaves usually narrower and sharper than in P. longaeva and P. balfouriana, and the leaves almost always have a narrow, median groove on the abaxial surface.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.

"relatively thin" is not a number.

... more about "Pinus aristata"
resinous +
conic-acute +  and conic-subulate +
Robert Kral +
Engelmann in Parry & Engelmann +
gray;redbrown +
fissured +
triangular +
gray-brown +
0.5 cm5 mm <br />0.005 m <br /> (0.6 cm6 mm <br />0.006 m <br />) +
bottlebrushes +
resinous +
pale redbrown +
conspicuous +
ovoid-acuminate +
1 cm10 mm <br />0.01 m <br /> (?) +
Colorado bristlecone pine +
6 cm60 mm <br />0.06 m <br /> (11 cm110 mm <br />0.11 m <br />) +
falling +  and maturing +
lanceovoid +  and ovoid or cylindric +
flattened +  and rounded +
Ariz. +, Colo. +  and N.Mex. +
2500–3400m +
sheathed +  and sessile +
rounded +, 2-3-angled +  and terete +
Subalpine and alpine +
sessile +  and short-petiolate +
2 cm20 mm <br />0.02 m <br /> (3 cm30 mm <br />0.03 m <br />) +
blue-green +
persisting +  and persistent +
3 cm30 mm <br />0.03 m <br /> (4 cm40 mm <br />0.04 m <br />) +
10 (?) +  and 17 (?) +
scale-like +
0.08 cm0.8 mm <br />8.0e-4 m <br /> (0.1 cm1 mm <br />0.001 m <br />) +
0 cm0 mm <br />0 m <br /> (1 cm10 mm <br />0.01 m <br />) +
serrulate +  and entire +
not winged +  and 2-winged +
bluish +  and red +
10 cm100 mm <br />0.1 m <br /> (?) +
0.4 cm4 mm <br />0.004 m <br /> (1 cm10 mm <br />0.01 m <br />) +
in Parry & Engelmann,Amer. J. Sci. Arts +
fibrous;woody +
arranged +  and overlapping +
persistent +
flattened +
pliable +  and woody +
grouped +  and solitary +
long-persistent +
wingless +, winged +, stalked +  and sessile +
persistent +
pendent;more or less erect +
obovoid +
0.5 cm5 mm <br />0.005 m <br /> (1.5 cm15 mm <br />0.015 m <br />) +
reduced;well-defined short +
Illustrated +  and Endemic +
extended +
Pinus balfouriana var. aristata +
Pinus aristata +
species +
decurrent +  and elongate +
tapering +
gray +  and pale redbrown +
puberulent +
extended +
reduced +
1 cm10 mm <br />0.01 m <br /> (?) +  and 1.3 cm13 mm <br />0.013 m <br /> (?) +