''Pinus balfouriana'', the foxtail pine, is a rare high-elevation

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 accep ...

that is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

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 territorie ...

. It is closely related to the

Great Basin The Great Basin is the largest area of contiguous endorheic basin, endorheic watersheds, those with no outlets, in North America. It spans nearly all of Nevada, much of Utah, and portions of California, Idaho, Oregon, Wyoming, and Baja California ...

and

Rocky Mountain bristlecone pine ''Pinus aristata'', the Rocky Mountain bristlecone pine (or the Colorado bristlecone pine), is a long-living species of bristlecone pine tree native to the United States. It appears in the Rocky Mountains in Colorado and northern New Mexico, wit ...

s, in the subsection '' Balfourianae''.

Description

''P. balfouriana'' 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, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

to tall, exceptionally , with a trunk up to across. Its

leaves A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...

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

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 long, dark purple ripening red-brown, with soft, flexible scales each with a central prickle.

Distribution

''P. balfouriana'' occurs in the

subalpine Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial f ...

forest at an elevation of in the

Klamath Mountains The Klamath Mountains are a rugged and lightly populated mountain range in northwestern California and southwestern Oregon in the western United States. As a mountain system within both the greater Pacific Coast Ranges and the California Coast R ...

, and at in the

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primarily ...

. In the Sierra Nevada, Foxtail pines are limited to the area around Sequoia and

Kings Canyon National Park Kings Canyon National Park is an American national park in the southern Sierra Nevada, in Fresno and Tulare Counties, California. Originally established in 1890 as General Grant National Park, the park was greatly expanded and renamed to Kings ...

s. In both areas, it is often a

tree line The tree line is the edge of the habitat at which trees are capable of growing. It is found at high elevations and high latitudes. Beyond the tree line, trees cannot tolerate the environmental conditions (usually cold temperatures, extreme snowp ...

species. There are two

disjunct population In biology, a taxon with a disjunct distribution is one that has two or more groups that are related but considerably separated from each other geographically. The causes are varied and might demonstrate either the expansion or contraction of a s ...

s: 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. Yolla-bolly-wilderness

Related species

''P. balfouriana'' is closely related to the

bristlecone pine The term bristlecone pine covers three species of pine tree (family Pinaceae, genus ''Pinus 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. T ...

s, being classified in the same subsection '' Balfourianae''; it has been hybridised with the

Great Basin Bristlecone Pine ''Pinus longaeva'' (commonly referred to as the Great Basin bristlecone pine, intermountain bristlecone pine, or western bristlecone pine) is a long-living species of bristlecone pine tree found in the higher mountains of California, Nevada, and ...

in cultivation, though no hybrids have ever been found in the wild.

References

External links

Calflora: Pinus balfouriana CalFlora Database: ''Pinus balfouriana'' (foxtail pine)

Gymnosperm Database – ''Pinus balfouriana''

USDA Plants Profile for ''Pinus balfouriana'' (foxtail pine)

* ttp://www.conifercountry.com/conifers/Pin/pine/fp/index.html Conifercountry.com: Foxtail Pines in Northwest California* {{Authority control balfouriana Endemic flora of California Trees of the Southwestern United States Flora of the Klamath Mountains Flora of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Near threatened plants Taxa named by John Hutton Balfour

Description

Distribution

Age

Related species

References

Further reading

External links