Editing Knobcone pine

{{Short description|Pine tree found in North America}}
{{speciesbox
| image = Pinus attenuata1 Shultzc.jpg
| image_caption =
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 12 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=Farjon, A. |date=2013 |title=''Pinus attenuata'' |volume=2013 |page=e.T42343A2974092 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T42343A2974092.en |access-date=12 November 2021}}</ref>
| genus = Pinus
| parent = Pinus subsect. Australes
| display_parents = 3
| species = attenuata
| authority = [[John Gill Lemmon|Lemmon]]
| range_map = Pinus attenuata range map 1.png
}}

The '''knobcone pine''', '''''Pinus attenuata''''' (also called ''Pinus tuberculata''),<ref>{{cite book|last1=Chase|first1=J. Smeaton|title=Cone-bearing Trees of the California Mountains|publisher=[[A.C. McClurg & Co.]]|others=[[Carl Eytel|Eytel, Carl]] (illustrations)|year=1911|location=Chicago|pages=32–34|chapter=''Pinus tuberculata'', Also called ''P. attenuta'' (Knob-cone-pine, Scrub-pine)|lccn=11004975|oclc=3477527|author-link1=J. Smeaton Chase|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/conebearingtrees00chas/page/32/mode/2up}}</ref> is a tree that grows in mild climates on poor soils.  It ranges from the mountains of southern [[Oregon]] to [[Baja California]] with the greatest concentration in northern [[California]] and the Oregon-California border.<ref name="Moore2008">{{cite book |author1=Moore, Gerry |author2=Kershner, Bruce |author3=Craig Tufts |author4=Daniel Mathews |author5=Gil Nelson |author6=Spellenberg, Richard |author7=Thieret, John W. |author8=Terry Purinton |author9=Block, Andrew |title=National Wildlife Federation Field Guide to Trees of North America |publisher=Sterling |location=New York |year=2008 |page= 85|isbn=978-1-4027-3875-3}}</ref>

==Description==
Individual specimens can live up to a century.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last1=Arno |first1=Stephen F. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1141235469 |title=Northwest Trees: Identifying & Understanding the Region's Native Trees |last2=Hammerly |first2=Ramona P. |publisher=[[Mountaineers Books]] |year=2020 |isbn=978-1-68051-329-5 |edition=field guide |location=Seattle |pages=58–61 |language=en |oclc=1141235469 |orig-date=1977}}</ref> The crown is usually conical with a straight trunk. It reaches heights of {{convert|8|-|24|m|ft|sp=us|abbr=off}},<ref>{{Gymnosperm Database |family=Pinaceae |genus=Pinus |species=attenuata }}</ref> but can be a shrub on especially poor sites. The [[Bark (botany)|bark]] is thin and smooth, flaky and gray-brown when young, becoming dark<ref name=":0" /> gray-red-brown and shallowly furrowed into flat scaly ridges in age. The twigs are red-brown and often resinous. Its wood is knotty and of little interest for lumber.<ref name=":0" />

The [[leaves]] are in fascicles of three,<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20070315152636/http://www.enature.com/fieldguides/detail.asp?source=&parkid=&searchText=&allSpecies=&shapeID=0&lshapeID=22&curAbbr=&lastView=default&lastGroup=10&lastRegion=&lastFilter=4&lastShapeName=&trackType=&curRegionID=&size=&habitat=&fruit=&color=&sortBy=family&curFamilyID=696&regionSelect=All+regions&regionZIP=&curGroupID=10&lgfromWhere=&curPageNum=27 eNature Field Guides (2007) ''Knobcone Pine'']</ref> needle-like, yellow-green, twisted, and {{Convert|9–15|cm|sp=us|frac=4}} long. The [[Conifer cone|cone]]s are resin-sealed and irregularly shaped,<ref name=":0" /> {{Convert|8–16|cm|abbr=on|frac=4}} long and clustered in [[Whorl (botany)|whorls]] of three to six on the branches. The scales end in a short stout prickle. Cones can sometimes be found attached to the trunk and larger branches.<ref name=":0" />
<gallery>
File:Pinaceae Knobcone Pine Pinus attenuata.jpg|Leaves
File:H20130601-8518—Pinus attenuata—Walker Ridge (9233604022).jpg|male cones
File:Pinus attenuata BLM7.jpg|Cones
File:Knobcone_Pine_Cone.jpg|Knobcone pine cone
File:Pinus attenuata Big Basin 5.jpg|Plant
File:Pinus attenuata Big Basin 4.jpg|Habitat
</gallery>

==Distribution==
The knobcone pine can be found growing in the dry, rocky soils of southern Oregon and northern California, between {{Convert|300 and 750|m|abbr=on}} above sea level.<ref name=":0" /> It forms nearly pure stands, preferring to grow where there is no competition.<ref name=":0" />

==Ecology==
On the coast, the knobcone pine may [[Hybrid (biology)|hybridize]] with bishop pine (''[[Pinus muricata]]''), and Monterey pine (''[[Pinus radiata]]'').

In the western foothills of the [[Sierra Nevada (U.S.)|Sierra Nevada]], knobcone pine is often a co-dominant with  blue oak (''[[Quercus douglasii]]'').<ref>Hogan, C. Michael (2008). [https://web.archive.org/web/20120228073950/http://globaltwitcher.auderis.se/artspec_information.asp?thingid=85046 ''Blue Oak: Quercus douglasii'', GlobalTwitcher.com, ed. Nicklas Stromberg]</ref>

The species is [[Fire ecology|susceptible to fire]], but this melts the cone resin, releasing seeds for regrowth.<ref name=":0" /> The species seems to be [[Shade tolerance|shade intolerant]].<ref name=":0" />

==See also==

* [[Coulter pine]]
* ''[[Pinus sabiniana]]''

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Bakker, Elna S. (1971). ''An island called California''. University of California press (1972). {{ISBN|0-520-02159-2}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Pinus attenuata}}
* {{Jepson Manual |id=195,210,212 |link=1}}
* [http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=PIAT USDA Plants Profile: ''Pinus attenuata'']
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060223015725/http://www.cnr.vt.edu/dendro/dendrology/syllabus/factsheet.cfm?ID=225 Virginia Tech Dendrology – Knobcone Pine]
* {{CalPhotos|Pinus|attenuata}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q2703208}}

[[Category:Pinus]]
[[Category:Trees of Northern America]]
[[Category:Least concern flora of the United States]]