''Pinus aristata'', the Rocky Mountain bristlecone pine (or the Colorado bristlecone pine), is a long-living species of

bristlecone pine The term bristlecone pine covers three species of pine tree (family Pinaceae, genus ''Pinus'', subsection ''Balfourianae''). All three species are long-lived and highly resilient to harsh weather and bad soils. One of the three species, ''Pinus ...

tree native to the

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 ...

. It appears in the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

and northern

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 ...

, with isolated populations in the San Francisco Peaks in

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 ...

and the Kaibab National Forest north of the Grand Canyon. It is usually found at very high altitudes, from , in cold, dry subalpine climate conditions, often at the

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 snow ...

, although it also forms extensive closed-canopy stands at somewhat lower elevations.

Description

''Pinus aristata'' is a 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 high and wide. Mature trunk diameter is highly variable. The bark is grey-brown, thin and scaly at the base of the trunk. The leaves ('needles') are in fascicles of five, stout, long, deep green to blue-green on the outer face, with stomata confined to a bright white band on the inner 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 ovoid-cylindrical, long and broad when closed, purple at first, ripening yellow-buff when 16 months old, with numerous thin, fragile scales, each scale with a bristle-like spine long. The cones open to broad when mature, releasing 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 immediately after opening. The seeds are long, with a wing; they are mostly dispersed by the wind, but some are also dispersed by

Clark's Nutcracker Clark's nutcracker (''Nucifraga columbiana''), sometimes referred to as Clark's crow or woodpecker crow, is a passerine bird in the family Corvidae, native to the mountains of western North America. The nutcracker is an omnivore, but subsists mai ...

s, which pluck the seeds out of the opening cones. The nutcrackers use the seeds as a food resource, storing many for later use, and some of these stored seeds are not used and are able to grow into new plants. It differs most conspicuously from the two other bristlecone pine species in that the needles usually have only one resin canal (or rarely two), and these are commonly interrupted and broken, leading to highly characteristic small white resin flecks appearing on the needles. This character, which looks a bit like '

dandruff Dandruff is a skin condition that mainly affects the scalp. Symptoms include flaking and sometimes mild itchiness. It can result in social or self-esteem problems. A more severe form of the condition, which includes inflammation of the skin, ...

' on the needles, is diagnostic of ''Pinus aristata''; no other pine shows it (though sometimes, scale insect infestations can look superficially similar). It is a long-lived tree, though not attaining the longevity of ''

Pinus longaeva ''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 ...

''. The oldest known tree, which grows high on Black Mountain in Colorado, was found to have a 2,435-year tree ring record (and overall estimated age of 2,480 years, per Craig Brunstein) in 1992. However, trees rarely live over 1,500 years. This species was previously described as a subspecies of '' Pinus balfouriana'' (''Pinus balfouriana aristata''). ''Pinus aristata'' is currently regarded as one of three closely related species known as

s and is sometimes named Rocky Mountains bristlecone pine or Colorado bristlecone pine. In addition to its informal and regional names, the trees are referred to as the foxtail pine or hickory pine. File:Pinus Aristata resin flecks.jpg, Needles with typical

resin In polymer chemistry and materials science, resin is a solid or highly viscous substance of plant or synthetic origin that is typically convertible into polymers. Resins are usually mixtures of organic compounds. This article focuses on n ...

flecks File:Pinus aristata (Rocky Mountains Bristlecone Pine) - Flickr - S. Rae.jpg, Cones File:Broddfura (Pinus aristata) - 1week.jpg, Seedlings File:Pinus aristata 2018-05-22 2347.jpg, Pollen cones File:Pinus aristata 14zz.jpg, Plant

Cultivation

''Pinus aristata'' is by far the most common of the bristlecone pines in cultivation, where it is a very attractive slow-growing small tree suitable for small

garden A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate bot ...

s in cold climates. Even so, it is never as long-lived as in the wild, typically living less than 100 years before it succumbs to root decay in the warmer, moister conditions prevalent in most inhabited places.

References

External links

Gymnosperm Database: ''Pinus aristata''

Flora of North America: ''Pinus aristata''

* ttp://hikearizona.com/dexcoder.php?PID=1614 HikeArizona.COM Images: ''Pinus aristata''
Photo of cone (scroll to bottom of page)

USDA Plants Profile: ''Pinus aristata''
{{Authority control aristata Flora of the Rocky Mountains Trees of the Southwestern United States Trees of the South-Central United States Garden plants of North America Drought-tolerant plants Ornamental trees Trees of the United States

Description

Cultivation

References

Further reading

External links