''Pinus squamata'', the Qiaojia pine ( zh: 巧家五针松) or southern lacebark pine, is a critically endangered

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 ...

native to a single locality consisting of about 20 trees in

Qiaojia County Qiaojia County () is a county in the northeast of Yunnan province, China, bordering Sichuan province to the north and west. The population was 625,000 in 2019, 33,200 of whom belonged to ethnic minorities. It is both the southernmost and westernmo ...

, northeast

Yunnan Yunnan , () is a landlocked Provinces of China, province in Southwest China, the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, at about elevation. The Qiaojia pine was discovered in April 1991 by Pangzhao J.Q. It was studied later that year and described the following year by Li Xiang-Wang. It shows similarities to Rzedowski's Pinyon and some other

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 New ...

Description

Its mature height is unknown because none of the living trees are yet mature, but they could possibly grow to or greater. Its habitat is open secondary woodland, scrub, and grassland mixed with

Yunnan pine ''Pinus yunnanensis'', the Yunnan pine, is a species of conifer in the family Pinaceae. It is found in the Chinese provinces of Yunnan, Sichuan, Guizhou Guizhou (; formerly Kweichow) is a landlocked province in the southwest region of th ...

. The Qiaojia pine has a conic crown with flaky pale gray-green bark becoming dark brown with age, similar to the closely related

lacebark pine ''Pinus bungeana'' (English: Bunge's pine or lacebark pine or white-barked pine; Chinese: 白皮松 Japanese: シロマツ, ) is a pine tree native to northeastern and central China. It is a slow-growing tree In botany, a tree is a pe ...

. The shoots are reddish to greenish brown and may be pubescent or glabrous. The

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 drooping in fascicles of 4 or 5, long by wide, glossy green above with white

stoma In botany, a stoma (from Greek ''στόμα'', "mouth", plural "stomata"), also called a stomate (plural "stomates"), is a pore found in the epidermis of leaves, stems, and other organs, that controls the rate of gas exchange. The pore is bor ...

tal bands on the underside. 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 conic to ovoid, reddish brown, and long by broad when open. They open at maturity in September to October of the second year to release the oblong black seeds, long with a wing.

Conservation

''Pinus squamata'' is the rarest of world pine species, with the

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inva ...

Torrey pine, ''

Pinus torreyana The Torrey pine (''Pinus torreyana'') is a rare pine species in California, United States. It is a critically endangered species growing only in coastal San Diego County, and on Santa Rosa Island, offshore from Santa Barbara in Santa Barbara ...

'', being the next most rare pine species.Hogan, C. Michael (2008
''Torrey Pine: Pinus torreyana''
Globaltwitcher, ed. Nicklas Stromberg This species has an extremely restricted range, known from only a very small area which is essentially one location. It seems to be a naturally very rare taxon and there is no indication for there having been any past reduction and likewise no evidence for any continuing decline. Hence the species is listed as Critically Endangered under criterion D on the basis of the very small population – around 18-20 mature individuals.

References

External links

Flora of China

Squamata Squamata (, Latin ''squamatus'', 'scaly, having scales') is the largest order of reptiles, comprising lizards, snakes, and amphisbaenians (worm lizards), which are collectively known as squamates or scaled reptiles. With over 10,900 species, ...

Endemic flora of China Trees of China Critically endangered flora of Asia Edible nuts and seeds {{conifer-stub