Editing Pinus aristata (section)

==Description==
''Pinus aristata'' is a medium-size [[tree]], commonly reaching {{convert|15|m|ft|sp=us|0}} in height and occasionally as much as {{cvt|20|m|ft|0}} in their natural habitat. In favorable conditions they are straight and upright trees, but they become increasingly stunted, short, and twisted the closer they grow to timberline.<ref name="4Corners">{{cite book |last1=Heil |first1=Kenneth D. |last2=O'Kane, Jr. |first2=Steve L. |last3=Reeves |first3=Linda Mary |last4=Clifford |first4=Arnold |title=Flora of the Four Corners Region : Vascular Plants of the San Juan River Drainage, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah |date=2013 |publisher=Missouri Botanical Garden |location=St. Louis, Missouri |pages=89–90 |url=https://archive.org/details/mobot31753003888887/page/94 |access-date=20 July 2024}}</ref> The [[Crown (botany)|crown]] of the tree is flattened, irregular, or round in shape when fully mature.<ref name="FNA">{{cite web |last1=Kral |first1=Robert |title=''Pinus aristata'' - FNA |url=http://floranorthamerica.org/Pinus_aristata |website=Flora of North America |access-date=20 July 2024 |date=5 November 2020}}</ref> The trunk can be very substantial, commonly {{cvt|75|cm|ft|0}} and up to {{cvt|1|m|ft|1}} in diameter, and tapers very noticeably towards the top.<ref name="4Corners" /><ref name="FNA" /> The bark is fairly smooth and white-gray on young trees, but becomes dark and cracked with a scaly texture on old trees.<ref name="4Corners" /><ref name="Farjon" /> The color of older bark varies from red-brown to gray.<ref name="FNA" />

Young trees that are not stunted have evenly spaced [[Whorl (botany)|whorls]] of branches.<ref name="Krüssmann">{{cite book |last1=Krüssmann |first1=Gerd |title=Handbuch der Nadelgehölze |trans-title=Manual of Conifers |date=1972 |publisher=Paul Parey |location=Berlin, West Germany |page=227 |isbn=3-489-71422-9 |url=https://archive.org/details/manualofcultivat0000gerd/page/227 |access-date=22 July 2024 |language=de}}</ref> On older trees the branches are crooked and twisting and may be partially dead.<ref name="Farjon">{{cite book |last1=Farjon |first1=Aljos |title=Pines : Drawings and Descriptions of the Genus ''Pinus'' |date=2005 |publisher=Brill |location=Leiden ; Boston |isbn=978-90-04-13916-9 |page=23, 37, 121 |edition=Second |url=https://archive.org/details/pinesdrawingsdes0000farj/page/37 |access-date=20 July 2024}}</ref> Twigs begin as red-brown, but become gray with age.<ref name="FNA" /> Twigs and very young branches are covered in [[Pine needle|needles]] that last for 10 to 17 years, giving them a shaggy bottle brush appearance.<ref name="Farjon" /><ref name="4Corners" /> The needle like leaves are bundles of five and are 2–4&nbsp;centimeters long, but usually longer than 3&nbsp;cm.<ref name="FNA" /> The [[Fascicle (botany)|fascicle]], the base that holds the needles together, breaks down more quickly in ''Pinus aristata'' than in ''[[Pinus longaeva]]'', giving a more even appearance to its branches. The resin canals in the needles are closer to the surface and not as sturdy, explaining the noticeable white flecks of resin. The botanist Dana K. Bailey described the needles covered in resin as appearing "dandruffy".<ref name="Garden of Bristlecones" /> The small dried droplets are easily mistaken for [[scale insect]]s.<ref name="Krüssmann" /> Between the white specks the needles are dark green in color. The buds are egg shaped with a long tapering point ({{plantgloss|acuminate}}), about 1&nbsp;cm in size.<ref name="FNA" /> New shoots are light orange and may covered in hairs or hairless.<ref name="Krüssmann" />

===Cones===
The [[pollen cone]] is approximately 1&nbsp;cm in length and may be blueish to red colored.<ref name="FNA" /> Trees mature enough to produce seed cones are generally about 1.5&nbsp;meters in height and 20 years of age.<ref name="Whitebark">{{cite book |last1=McCaughey |first1=Ward W. |last2=Tomback |first2=Diana F. |editor1-last=Tomback |editor1-first=Diana F. |editor2-last=Arno |editor2-first=Stephen F. |editor3-last=Keane |editor3-first=Robert E. |title=Whitebark Pine Communities : Ecology and Restoration |date=2001 |publisher=Island Press |location=Washington, D.C. |isbn=978-1-55963-717-6 |pages=106, 110 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/whitebarkpinecom0000unse/page/106 |access-date=22 July 2024 |language=en |chapter=Chapter 5: The Natural Regeneration Process}}</ref> [[Seed cone]]s are dark purple when immature and turn brown as they ripen. At full size they are 6–11&nbsp;centimeters in length.<ref name="4Corners" /> A seed cone takes two years to fully ripen. Each scale of the cone is tipped with a thin, brittle pickle 4–10&nbsp;millimeters long. They fall from the tree soon after releasing their seeds.<ref name="FNA" /> ''Pinus aristata'' has seeds that are gray-brown to nearly black in color with darker spots and 5–6&nbsp;mm long. The seed has an attached papery wing 10–13&nbsp;mm long.<ref name="FNA" /><ref name="Krüssmann" /> Their [[mean]] weight is 25&nbsp;milligrams, significantly smaller than those of the [[whitebark pine]] at 175&nbsp;mg, but much larger than the 4&nbsp;mg of [[lodgepole pine]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Tomback |first1=Diana F. |last2=Arno |first2=Stephen F. |last3=Keane |first3=Robert E. |title=Whitebark Pine Communities : Ecology and Restoration |date=2001 |publisher=Island Press |location=Washington, D.C. |isbn=978-1-55963-717-6 |page=8 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/whitebarkpinecom0000unse/page/8 |access-date=22 July 2024 |language=en |chapter=Chapter 1: The Compelling Case for Management Intervention}}</ref> Large crops of cones are produced only once per century on average.<ref name="Whitebark" />

===Seedlings===
The seeds of ''Pinus aristata'' easily germinate, with as much as 80% of the seeds being viable. Seeds that are mechanically damaged are colonized and killed by fungus. Each new sprout will have between seven and twelve needle-like seed leaves. The seedlings are quite vulnerable to cold temperatures with all being killed if exposed to temperatures of less than {{convert|-10|C|F}}.<ref name="Reid">{{cite journal |last1=Reid |first1=William H. |title=Germination of Pinus Aristata Engelm |journal=The Great Basin Naturalist |date=1972 |volume=32 |issue=4 |pages=235–237 |jstor=41711355 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41711355 |access-date=27 August 2024 |issn=0017-3614}}</ref>

{{gallery|align=center|mode=packed|height=168
|File:Pinus aristata - Matt Berger 01.jpg|Immature seed cone
|File:Broddfura (Pinus aristata) - 1week.jpg|Seedlings, 1 week old
|File:Pinus Aristata resin flecks.jpg|[[Pine needle|Needles]] with typical [[resin]] flecks
|File:Pinus aristata 2018-05-22 2347.jpg|Growing buds
|File:Pinus aristata 14zz.jpg|In cultivation
}}

===Longevity===
Though they do not obtain the extreme age of the Great Basin bristlecone pines, Colorado bristlecones still reach quite advanced ages. There are 13 trees that are known to be older than 1600 years by reliable dating, including one on Mount Goliath dated to the year 403. Four of these trees exceed 2100 years of age and one is {{age|-441|5|1}} years old (see [[#Notable trees|Notable trees]]). Based on size and appearance scientists estimate there are 30 more trees in the same general area older than 1600 years that have not yet had core samples taken.<ref name="Brunstein" /> The botanist [[Aljos Farjon]] thinks that there may be trees that are older 3000 years of age that have yet to be scientifically scrutinized.<ref name="Farjon" /> At lower elevations in montane habitats where they grow with grasses, ages generally do not exceed 300 years.<ref name="FEIS">{{cite web |last1=Fryer |first1=Janet L. |title=''Pinus aristata'' |url=https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/tree/pinari/all.html |website=Fire Effects Information System |publisher=U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory |access-date=22 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220628095019/https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/tree/pinari/all.html |archive-date=28 June 2022 |language=en |date=2004}}</ref>

The Rocky Mountain bristlecone is known both for having stripes of dead wood on the trunks of older trees and for the extreme lengths of time that dead trees will remain sound. In this it is very much like the Great Basin bristlecone.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=LaMarche |first1=Valmore C. |last2=Mooney |first2=Harold A. |title=Recent Climatic Change and Development of the Bristlecone Pine (P. longaeva Bailey) Krummholz Zone, Mt. Washington, Nevada |journal=Arctic and Alpine Research |date=1972 |volume=4 |issue=1 |pages=61–72 |doi=10.2307/1550214 |jstor=1550214 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1550214 |access-date=28 August 2024 |issn=0004-0851|url-access=subscription }}</ref>