''Pinus arizonica'', commonly known as the Arizona pine, is a medium-sized

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. ''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as cu ...

in northern

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, southeast

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

, southwest

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

, and western

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. It is a

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, e.g., including only woody plants with secondary growth, only ...

growing to 25–35 m tall, with a trunk diameter of up to . The needles are in bundles of 3, 4, or 5, with 5-needle fascicles being the most prevalent. This variability may be a sign of hybridization with the closely related

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 t ...

(''Pinus ponderosa''). The cones are single, paired, or in whorls of three, and 5–11 cm long.

Taxonomy

The Arizona pine was commonly thought to be a variant of Ponderosa pine, but since at least 1997 it is now recognized as a distinct species by most authorities. Three varieties are described; * ''Pinus arizonica'' var. ''arizonica'', primarily in the

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 C ...

from

and New Mexico south through Chihuahua to

Durango Durango, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Durango, is one of the 31 states which make up the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 Federal Entities of Mexico, situated in the northwest portion of the country. With a population of 1,832,650 ...

and Zacatecas, west to Sonora and Sinaloa, and east through Coahuila to Nuevo León. * ''Pinus arizonica'' var. ''stormiae'', in the

Sierra Madre Oriental The Sierra Madre Oriental () is a mountain range in northeastern Mexico. The Sierra Madre Oriental is part of the American Cordillera, a chain of mountain ranges (cordillera) that consists of an almost continuous sequence of mountain ranges that ...

from Coahuila and Nuevo León south to southwest Tamaulipas (in Miquihuana) and parts of

San Luis Potosí San Luis Potosí, officially the Free and Sovereign State of San Luis Potosí, is one of the 32 states which compose the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 59 municipalities and is named after its capital city, San Luis Potosí. It ...

. Possibly in the

Big Bend National Park Big Bend National Park is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States located in West Texas, bordering Mexico. The park has national significance as the largest protected area of Chihuahuan Desert topograph ...

in Texas. * ''Pinus arizonica'' var. ''cooperi'', in the Sierra Madre Occidental in Chihuahua and Durango. This variety was originally described as a distinct species, but was subsumed under ''Pinus arizonica'' by Farjon in 1997. Among some primarily Mexican botanists this change has not proved popular. It has also been reclassified as a subspecies by Silba in 2009 on the basis of it being more distinct than var. ''stormiae'', although this taxonomy is followed by even fewer authors. Some authors regard this as more closely related to

Hartweg's pine ''Pinus hartwegii'' ( syn. ''P. rudis'', ''P. donnell-smithii''), Hartweg's pine, the Mexican mountain pine, or pino de las alturas, is a pine native to the mountains of Mexico and Central America east to Honduras. It is named after Karl Theodor ...

(''Pinus hartwegii'').

Uses

This pine is a source of construction timber, and is heavily harvested for firewood. Extensive cutting has reduced the formerly widespread Arizona pine forests, particularly in Mexico. Pinus arizonica Mount Lemmon

References

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q2703215 arizonica Flora of Durango

Pine, Arizona Pine is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Gila County, Arizona, United States. The population was 1,953 at the 2020 census. Pine was established by four Mormon families in 1879. Pine and the adjacent community of ...

Least concern plants Flora of the Sierra Madre Occidental Plants described in 1879 Flora of the Sierra Madre Oriental