''Pinus cembroides'', also known as pinyon pine, Mexican pinyon, Mexican nut pine, and Mexican stone pine, is a

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accepts ...

in the

pinyon pine The pinyon or piñon pine group grows in southwestern North America, especially in New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah. The trees yield edible nuts, which are a staple food of Native Americans, and widely eaten as a snack and as an ingredient in Ne ...

group, native to western North America. It grows in areas with low levels of rainfall and its range extends southwards from

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

and

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ke ...

in the United States into Mexico. It typically grows at altitudes between . It is a small pine growing to about with a trunk diameter of up to . The seeds are large and form part of the diet of the

Mexican jay The Mexican jay (''Aphelocoma wollweberi'') Etymology: ''Aphelocoma'', from Latinized Ancient Greek ''apheles-'' (from ἀφελής-) "simple" + Latin ''coma'' (from Greek ''kome'' κόμη) "hair", in reference to the lack of striped or banded ...

and Abert's squirrel. They are also collected for human consumption, being the most widely used

pine nut Pine nuts, also called piñón (), pinoli (), pignoli or chilgoza (), are the edible seeds of pines (family Pinaceae, genus ''Pinus''). According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, only 29 species provide edible nuts, while 20 are trad ...

in Mexico. This is a common pine with a wide range and the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of nat ...

has rated its conservation status as being of "

least concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...

Distribution

The range extends from westernmost

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

(where it is restricted to the Chisos and

Davis Mountains The Davis Mountains, originally known as Limpia Mountains, are a range of mountains in West Texas, located near Fort Davis, after which they are named. The fort was named for then United States Secretary of War and later Confederate President J ...

), south through much of

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, occurring widely along the Sierra Madre Oriental and

Sierra Madre Occidental The Sierra Madre Occidental is a major mountain range system of the North American Cordillera, that runs northwest–southeast through northwestern and western Mexico, and along the Gulf of California. The Sierra Madre is part of the American ...

ranges, and more rarely in the eastern Eje Volcánico Transversal range. It lives in areas with little rainfall, which fluctuates between to , the subspecies orizabensis (''

Pinus orizabensis ''Pinus orizabensis'', the Orizaba pinyon, is a pine in the pinyon pine group, endemic to central Mexico. It is considered also as a sub-species of ''Pinus cembroides'' which is classified as ''Pinus cembroides'' subsp. ''orizabensis'' D.K.Baile ...

'') is found farther south in the state of

Veracruz Veracruz (), formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave), is one of the 31 states which, along with Me ...

. There is also a disjunct population in the Sierra de la Laguna of southern Baja California Sur. It occurs at moderate altitudes, mostly from to .

Description

''Pinus cembroides'' is a small to medium-size

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

, reaching to tall and with a trunk diameter of up to . The bark is dark brown, thick and deeply fissured at the base of the trunk. The leaves ('needles') are in mixed pairs and threes, slender, to long, and dull yellowish green, with stomata on both inner and outer surfaces. The

cones A cone is a three-dimensional geometric shape that tapers smoothly from a flat base (frequently, though not necessarily, circular) to a point called the apex or vertex. A cone is formed by a set of line segments, half-lines, or lines conn ...

are globose, to long and broad when closed, green at first, ripening yellow-brown when 18–20 months old, with only a small number of thick scales, with typically 5-12 fertile scales. The cones open to to broad when mature, holding the

seed A seed is an embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer covering, along with a food reserve. The formation of the seed is a part of the process of reproduction in seed plants, the spermatophytes, including the gymnosperm and angiospe ...

s on the scales after opening. The seeds are to long, with a thick shell, a pink endosperm, and a vestigial wing; they are dispersed by the

, which plucks the seeds out of the open cones. The jay, which uses the seeds as a major food resource, stores many of the seeds for later use, and some of these stored seeds are not used and are able to grow into new trees. Abert's squirrel also feeds on the seeds in preference to those of the

ponderosa pine ''Pinus ponderosa'', commonly known as the ponderosa pine, bull pine, blackjack pine, western yellow-pine, or filipinus pine is a very large pine tree species of variable habitat native to mountainous regions of western North America. It is the ...

. File:Pinus cembroides - foliage.jpg, Foliage File:Pinus cembroides.jpg, Detail of foliage, cones File:Big Bend National Park PB122661.jpg, Tree

History

Mexican pinyon was the first

described, named by Zuccarini in 1832. Many of the other pinyon pines have been treated as

varieties Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

or subspecies of it at one time or another in the past, but research in the last 10–50 years has shown that most are distinct

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

. Some botanists still include

Johann's pinyon ''Pinus johannis'', the Johann's pine, is a pine in the pinyon pine group, native to North America. The range extends from southeast Arizona and southwest New Mexico, United States, south in Mexico along the Sierra Madre Occidental and the Sie ...

and

Orizaba pinyon ''Pinus orizabensis'', the Orizaba pinyon, is a pine in the pinyon pine group, endemic to central Mexico. It is considered also as a sub-species of ''Pinus cembroides'' which is classified as ''Pinus cembroides'' subsp. ''orizabensis'' D.K.Baile ...

in Mexican pinyon; the former accounts for records of "Mexican pinyon" in southern

and

. Mexican pinyon is a relatively non-variable species, with constant morphology over the entire range except for the disjunct population in the Sierra de la Laguna pine-oak forests of Baja California Sur; this is generally treated as a subspecies, ''Pinus cembroides'' subsp. ''lagunae'', although some botanists treat it as a separate species, ''P. lagunae.'' This subspecies differs from the type in having slightly longer leaves, between and and longer, narrower cones, up to long. The seeds are widely collected in Mexico, being the main edible

in the region. While palatable when raw, their flavor is considered to be improved when roasted.

References

External links

* *
Photos of ''Pinus cembroides'' tree and foliage

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3506511 Cembroides Trees of Mexico Trees of the Southwestern United States Trees of the South-Central United States Trees of Baja California Sur Trees of temperate climates North American desert flora Drought-tolerant trees Edible nuts and seeds Plants used in Native American cuisine Least concern flora of North America Least concern biota of Mexico Least concern flora of the United States Flora of the Sierra Madre Occidental Flora of the Sierra Madre Oriental