Product Code Database
Coulter pine ( Pinus coulteri), or big-cone pine, is a conifer in the genus Pine of the family Pinaceae. Coulter pine is an evergreen conifer that lives up to 100 years. Horton, Jerome S. 1949. Trees and shrubs for erosion control of southern California mountains. Berkeley, CA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, California Pacific Forest and Range Experiment Station; California Department of Natural Resources, Division of Forestry. 72 p. 10689 It is a native of the coastal mountains of Southern California in the United States and northern Baja California in Mexico, occurring in mediterranean climates, where winter rains are infrequent and summers are dry with occasional thunderstorms.Minnich, Richard A. 1976. Vegetation of the San Bernardino Mountains. In: Latting, June, ed. Symposium proceedings: plant communities of southern California; 1974 May 4; Fullerton, CA. Special Publication No.2. Berkeley, CA: California Native Plant Society: 99-124. 4232 Isolated groves are found as far north as Clearlake, California, on the flanks of Mt. Konocti and in Black Diamond Mines Regional Preserve. Although geographically isolated, these Coulter pine populations were very similar in all of three studies of morphological characteristics. Oleoresins (volatile portions) were also similar.St. John, Harold. 1973. List and summary of the flowering plants in the Hawaiian islands. Hong Kong: Cathay Press Limited. 519 p. 25354
While the species has a limited range in the wild, the Coulter pine is a popular ornamental tree and is grown in many countries.
Coulter pine ( Pinus coulteri) is named after Thomas Coulter, an Irish botanist and physician. The Coulter pine produces some of the heaviest cones of any pine tree, up to ; among conifers, these are exceeded only by the cones of Araucaria bidwillii.
The exemplary characteristic of this tree is the large, spiny conifer cone, which are long (occasionally as much as length has been observed) and in width,Gardener's Chronicle Volume 23 (third series)(March 28, 1885) Page 415 and weigh when fresh. Each segment, or "scale", of the cone is tipped with a talon-like hook. Although the slender cones of the sugar pine are longer, Coulter pines produce the largest cones of any pine species, and people are advised to wear when working in Coulter pine groves. The large size of the cones, combined with the claw-like scales, has earned them the nickname "widowmakers" among locals. Seed cones mature in two years, gradually shedding seeds thereafter, and are moderately persistent, massive, heavy, drooping, asymmetric at the base, narrowly Oval before opening, ovoid-cylindric when open, long, pale yellow-brown in color, and resinous, with stalks to . The apophyses are transverse-rhombic, strongly and sharply cross-keeled, elongate, curved, and continuous with umbos to form long, upcurved claws . The seeds are obovoid in shape, dark brown in color, and the body long, with a wing to .
This is a member of subsection Ponderosae, and is generally recognized as closely related (morphologically, geographically, and genetically) to Pinus sabiniana, P. torreyana, and P. jeffreyi; the three taxa form group Sabinianae Loudon 1838 ( Pinus jeffreyi, though morphologically a bit different, is known to hybridize with P.coulteri, and molecular analysis clearly places it in the Sabinianae). P. coulteri, alone in the Sabinianae, also shares a chloroplast haplotype with P. arizonica of the northern Sierra Madre. It seems likely that the species arose through a hybridization event involving two members of subsection Ponderosae.
Coulter pine is the dominant species in the following published classifications: Terrestrial natural communities of California, Vegetation types of the San Bernardino Mountains, Vegetation of the San Bernardino Mountains, A vegetation classification system applied to southern California, Mixed evergreen forest,Sawyer, John O.; Thornburgh, Dale A.; Griffin, James R. 1977. Mixed evergreen forest. In: Barbour, Michael G.; Major, Jack, eds. Terrestrial vegetation of California. New York: John Wiley and Sons: 359-381. 7218 Vascular plant communities of California, Montane and subalpine forests of the Transverse and Peninsular ranges.Thorne, Robert F. 1977. Montane and subalpine forests of the Transverse and Peninsular ranges. In: Barbour, Michael G.; Major, Jack, eds. Terrestrial vegetation of California. New York: John Wiley and Sons: 537-557. 7214
This erect, medium-sized pine prefers south-facing slopes from 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. often forage on the species, and peel the bark to access insects underneath.
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 used in xeriscaping. The Coulter pine has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.
==Gallery==
|
|
