Pinus coulteri D. Don
EOL Text
Trees to 24m; trunk to 1m diam., straight to contorted; crown broad, thin, irregular. Bark dark gray-brown to near black, deeply furrowed, with long, scaly, irregularly anastomosing, rounded ridges. Branches often ascending; twigs stout to moderately slender, violet-brown, often glaucous, aging gray-brown, rough. Buds ovoid, deep red-brown, 1.5(--3)cm, resinous; scale margins white-fringed, apex cuspidate. Leaves 3 per fascicle, slightly spreading, not drooping, mostly ascending in a brush, persisting 3--4 years, 15--30cm ´ ca. 2mm, slightly curved or straight, twisted, dusty gray-green, all surfaces with pale, fine stomatal lines, margins serrulate, apex abruptly subulate; sheath 2--4cm, base persistent. Pollen cones ovoid to cylindric, to 25mm, light purple-brown, aging orange-brown. Seed cones maturing in 2 years, gradually shedding seeds thereafter and moderately persistent, massive, heavy, drooping, asymmetric at base, narrowly ovoid before opening, ovoid-cylindric when open, 20--35cm, pale yellow-brown, resinous, stalks to 3cm; apophyses transverse-rhombic, strongly and sharply cross-keeled, elongate, curved, continuous with umbos to form long, upcurved claws 2.5--3cm. Seeds obovoid; body 15--22mm, dark brown; wing to 25mm. 2 n =24.
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| Rights holder/Author | eFloras.org Copyright © Missouri Botanical Garden |
| Source | http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=233500931 |
More info for the term: serpentine soils
Coulter pine occurs in a mediterranean climate. Winter rains are
infrequent, and the summer is dry with occasional summer thunderstorms
[37,40,52].
Coulter pine is most frequent on steep south-facing slopes and ridges
[4,22,52]. Soils may be poor to fertile, and are typically dry.
Coulter pine is an indicator of serpentine soils, but also occurs on a
variety of other substrates. Soils range from loamy to gravelly or
rocky in texture [22,29,30]. Coulter pine occurs between 500 to 7,000
feet (150-2,120 m) elevation [47,55].
Historia de vida
Especie de pino que ha sido agrupado en un grupo resistente al fuego, sobreviviendo los árboles adultos al mismo; la mayoría son altos, con gruesa corteza, aciculas largas y gruesas ramas. Sus conos son pesados y con escamas que presentan espinas; semillas grandes con alas largas, y son lentas para iniciar la producción de semillas. Es menos divergente del grupo (P. sabiniana, P. torreyana), con lento crecimiento y de tamaño menor; la parcialidad serotina aparentemente le da una ventaja reproductiva después del fuego sobre otras especies del grupo (P. lambertiana) (McCune 1988).
P. coulteri, la igual que P. torreyana (Bradron 1949; Vogl 1973; en Keeley &Zedler, 1998), tiene conos que mantienen el árbol por años y se abren al madurar sin estimulo del calor. Una gran porción de las semillas salen en las primeras semanas, pero algunas son mantenidas en la porción proximal del cono y caen a lo largo de grandes periodos, posiblemente en respuesta al movimiento gradual causado por la humedad y sequía (Keelley &Zedler 1998).
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| Rights holder/Author | CONABIO |
| Source | http://www.conabio.gob.mx/conocimiento/ise/fichasnom/Pinuscoulteri00.pdf |
More info for the term: natural
Coulter pine occurs in a variety of plant associations, but seldom forms
extensive pure stands [18]. Where they do occur, communities dominated
by Coulter pine intergrade with chaparral and lower montane coniferous
forest [5,24,27,47]. Coulter pine is named as a dominant species in the
following published classifications:
Terrestrial natural communities of California [22]
Vegetation types of the San Bernadino Mountains [25]
Vegetation of the San Bernadino Mountains [37]
A vegetation classification system applied to southern California [42]
Mixed evergreen forest [45]
Vascular plant communities of California [47]
Montane and subalpine forests of the Transverse and Peninsular ranges [48]
An introduction to the plant communities of the Santa Ana and San
Jacinto Mountains [52]
Associated trees not mentioned in Distribution and Occurrence include
sugar pine (Pinus lambertiana), bristlecone fir (Abies bracteata),
incense-cedar (Libocedrus decurrens), Sargent cypress (Cupressus
sargentii), black cottonwood (Populus trichocarpa), California bay
(Umbellularia californica), bigcone Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga
macrocarpa), Pacific madrone (Arbutus menziesii), and birchleaf
mountain-mahogany (Cercocarpus betuloides var. betuloides)
[4,7,22,24,47,48,55]. Understory associates include chamise (Adenostoma
fasciculatum), Eastwood manzanita (Arctostaphylos glandulosa), Pringle
manzanita (A. pringlei), pointleaf manzanita (A. pugens), deerbrush
(Ceanothus integerrimus), annual hairgrass (Deschampsia danthonioides),
rareflower heterocodon (Heterocodon rariflorum), golden violet (Viola
douglasii), and annual ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum) [4,19,37,48,52].
More info on this topic.
More info for the term: ecotype
Coulter pine cones open for pollination in May and June [31,41,50].
Cones ripen in August and September of the second year following
pollination [29,31,50]. Mature cones may open at or soon after
maturity, slowly over a several-year peroid, or only after fire,
depending upon ecotype. Cones of nonserotinous ecotypes open and
disperse seed from October through Novermber [7,31,37].
The Coulter pine or big-cone pine, Pinus coulteri, is a native of the coastal mountains of Southern California and northern Baja California (Mexico). Isolated groves are found as far north as the San Francisco Bay Area in Mt. Diablo State Park and Black Diamond Mines Regional Preserve. The species is named after Thomas Coulter, an Irish botanist and physician.
Contents
Description[edit]
Pinus coulteri is a substantial coniferous evergreen tree in the genus Pinus. The size ranges from 10–24 m (30–80 ft) tall,[2] and a trunk diameter up to 1 m (3 ft). The trunk is vertical and branches horizontal to upcurved. The leaves are needle-like, in bundles of three, glaucous gray-green, 15–30 cm (6–12 in) long and stout, 2 mm (0.01 in) thick.
The outstanding characteristic of this tree is the large, spiny cones which are 20–40 cm (8–16 in) long, and weigh 2–5 kg (4-10 lbs) when fresh. Coulter pines produce the largest cones of any pine tree species (people are actually advised to wear hardhats when working in Coulter pine groves), although the slender cones of the sugar pine are longer. The large size of the cones has earned them the nickname "widowmakers" among locals.
Ecology[edit]
The Coulter pine is closely related to the Jeffrey pine, with which it shares habitats, and the Ponderosa pine.[3] Coulter pines tend to grow in drier environments than Ponderosa and Jeffery pines.
This erect, medium-sized pine prefers south-facing slopes between 200–2300 m (600-7,500 ft) elevation, and tolerates dry rocky soil. Pinus coulteri most often appears in mixed forests. The Coulter pine occurs in a number of forest plant associations; for example, At higher elevations forestation of the San Jacinto Mountains Coulter Pine is co-dominant with the California black oak.[4]Woodpeckers often forage on the species, and peel the bark to access insects underneath.[5]
Uses[edit]
The wood is weak and soft, so that the species is little used other than for firewood.
Pinus coulteri is cultivated as an ornamental tree, planted in parks and large gardens, and drought tolerant landscaping. The Coulter pine has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.[6]
Gallery[edit]
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Pollen cones
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Bark close-up
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Foliage and cones
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Large cone, found at 4,150 ft elevation in the Santa Lucia Ranger District of the Los Padres National Forest, California Coastal Range of the Central Coast.
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Cone -
Seed
References[edit]
- ^ Farjon, A. (2011). "Pinus coulteri". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 3.1. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 2013-11-10.
- ^ Gymnosperm Database, 2008
- ^ Forest Service
- ^ C. Michael Hogan, 2008
- ^ Moore, Gerry; Kershner, Bruce; Craig Tufts; Daniel Mathews; Gil Nelson; Spellenberg, Richard; Thieret, John W.; Terry Purinton; Block, Andrew (2008). National Wildlife Federation Field Guide to Trees of North America. New York: Sterling. p. 86. ISBN 1-4027-3875-7.
- ^ "RHS Plant Selector Pinus coulteri AGM / RHS Gardening". Apps.rhs.org.uk. Retrieved 2013-09-27.
Notes[edit]
- Conifer Specialist Group (1998). Pinus coulteri. 2006. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. www.iucnredlist.org. Retrieved on 12 May 2006.
- Gymnosperm Database (2008) Pinus coulteri
- Flora of North America: Pinus coulteri
- C. Michael Hogan (2008) Pinus coulteri, pub: Globaltwitcher.com, ed: Nicklas Stromberg
Further reading[edit]
- Chase, J. Smeaton (1911). Cone-bearing Trees of the California Mountains. Chicago: A. C. McClurg & Co. p. 99. LCCN 11004975. OCLC 3477527. LCC QK495.C75 C4, with illustrations by Carl Eytel - Kurut, Gary F. (2009), "Carl Eytel: Southern California Desert Artist", California State Library Foundation, Bulletin No. 95, pp. 17-20 retrieved Nov. 13, 2011
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More info on this topic.
This species is known to occur in the following ecosystem types (as named by the U.S. Forest Service in their Forest and Range Ecosystem [FRES] Type classification):
More info for the term: shrub
FRES20 Douglas-fir
FRES23 Fir - spruce
FRES28 Western hardwoods
FRES34 Chaparral - mountain shrub
FRES27 Redwood
The following is a representative barcode sequence, the centroid of all available sequences for this species.
More info on this topic.
This species is known to occur in association with the following cover types (as classified by the Society of American Foresters):
211 White fir
232 Redwood
234 Douglas-fir - tanoak - Pacific madrone
246 California black oak
247 Jeffrey pine
248 Knobcone pine
249 Canyon live oak
250 Blue oak - Digger pine
255 California coast live oak