Pinus balfouriana, the foxtail pine, is a rare high-elevation pine that is endemic to California, United States. It is closely related to the Great Basin and Rocky Mountain bristlecone pines, in the subsection Balfourianae.
Description
P. balfouriana is a
tree to tall, exceptionally , with a trunk up to across. Its
leaf are needle-like, in bundles of five (or sometimes four, in the southern Sierra) with a semi-persistent basal sheath, and long, deep glossy green on the outer face, and white on the inner faces; they persist for 10–15 years. The
Conifer cone are long, dark purple ripening red-brown, with soft, flexible scales each with a central prickle.
Distribution
P. balfouriana occurs in the
subalpine zone forest at an elevation of in the Klamath Mountains, and at in the Sierra Nevada. In the Sierra Nevada, Foxtail pines are limited to the area around Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. In both areas, it is often a
tree line species.
There are two disjunct populations:
|
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| southern Klamath Mountains |
the southern Sierra Nevada |
|
A small outlying population was reported in southern Oregon, but was proven to have been misidentified.
[Kauffmann, Michael E. (2012). Conifer Country. Kneeland, CA: Backcountry Press. . .]
Age
It is thought that
P. balfouriana can live up to 3000 years in the Sierra Nevada, although the highest currently proven age is 2110 years. In the Klamath Mountains, ages are only known to about 1000 years.
Related species
P. balfouriana is closely related to the
, being classified in the same subsection
Bristlecone pine; it has been hybridised with the
Pinus longaeva in cultivation, though no hybrids have ever been found in the wild.
Further reading
-
Bailey, D.K. 1970. Phytogeography and taxonomy of Pinus subsection Balfourianae. Ann. Missouri Bot. Gard. 57: 210–249.
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Mastrogiuseppe, R.J. & Mastrogiuseppe, J.D. 1980. A study of Pinus balfouriana Grev. & Balf. (Pinaceae). Systematic Botany 5: 86–104.
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Richardson, D.M. (ed.). 1998. Ecology and Biogeography of Pinus. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. 530 p. .
External links
