''Pinus nelsonii'', Nelson's pinyon, is a species of

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

native to the mountains of northeastern

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

, in

Nuevo León Nuevo León () is a state in the northeast region of Mexico. The state was named after the New Kingdom of León, an administrative territory from the Viceroyalty of New Spain, itself was named after the historic Spanish Kingdom of León. Wit ...

San Luis Potosí San Luis Potosí (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of San Luis Potosí ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de San Luis Potosí), is one of the 32 states which compose the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 58 municipalities and i ...

and

Tamaulipas Tamaulipas (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tamaulipas ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Tamaulipas), is a state in the northeast region of Mexico; one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Federal Entiti ...

at 1,800–3,200 m altitude.

Description

It is a small tree growing to 10 m tall with a trunk up to 20–30 cm diameter. The crown is rounded and dense, and resembles that of the unrelated '' Pinus pinea'' from the western

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on ...

. The needles are produced in fascicles of three (occasionally four), but 'zipped' together by their finely serrated margins so that they look like a single needle; they can only be separated by force. They are 4–8 (rarely 10) cm long and 0.7–1 mm thick, sub-shiny dark green in colour, with a persistent grey basal sheath 7–9 mm long. The cones are cylindrical, 6–12 cm long and 4–5 cm broad, orange-brown to red-brown colour, with 60–100 scales with large but indistinct umbos, and carried on a stout downcurved peduncle 3–6 cm long. Unlike all other pines, their growth while immature does not pause during the first winter. 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 angiosper ...

s are large, 12–15 mm, red-brown. The cones mature in November after rain season. It grows in a semi-arid temperate climate with summer rainfall and is very drought-tolerant.Farjon, A. & Styles, B. T. (1997). Pinus (Pinaceae). ''Flora Neotropica'' Monograph 75. The

s are edible and delicious, and are very appreciated by people in the region. They are so valuable that they are transported to the markets of

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

. Because of its seeds, it has been very devastated by people. Only recently it has been cultivated outside its native range, grown more for its botanical curiosity than for ornamental values. The scientific name is occasionally cited incorrectly as ''Pinus nelsoni''; the correct ending is -''ii''. File:Pinus nelsonii (Nelson's Pinyon) (31179779021).jpg, ''Pinus nelsonii'' foliage File:Pinus nelsonii, General Zaragoza, Nuevo León, Mexico 1.jpg, Cones File:Pinus nelsonii, General Zaragoza, Nuevo León, Mexico 2.jpg, Seeds

Systematics

It has very singular characteristics and is not closely related to any other pines in either morphologyShaw, G. R. (1904). Pinus nelsonii. ''Gard. Chron''. ser.3, 36: 122, f.49.Grimshaw, J., & Bayton, R. (2009). ''New Trees''. International Dendrology Society / Kew. . or genetics. It is placed in subgenus ''Strobus'' either in its own section ''Nelsonia'' or subsection ''Nelsoniae''. :

"''Pinus nelsonii'' is exceptional. Evidence from three nuclear genes (Syring et al., 2005) and cpDNA (Gernandt et al., 2005) resolve ''P. nelsonii'' as sister lineage to the remaining members of sect. ''Parrya''. In contrast, the LEA-like locus used in this study places ''P. nelsonii'' in a unique, moderately supported (71% BS) position sister to sect. ''Quinquefoliae'' when midpoint rooting is employed."

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3308389 nelsonii Edible nuts and seeds Trees of Nuevo León Trees of San Luis Potosí Trees of Tamaulipas Drought-tolerant trees Flora of the Sierra Madre Oriental