Editing Pinus cembroides

{{Short description|North American species of pine}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = SierradeO_05.jpg
| image_upright = 1.1
| image_alt = Small stand of trees one a rocky hillside with cliffs in the background
| image_caption = Mexican pinyon in [[Sierra de Organos National Park]], [[Sombrerete]]
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref=<ref name="iucn status 11 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=Farjon, A. |date=2013 |title=''Pinus cembroides'' |volume=2013 |page=e.T42350A2974560 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T42350A2974560.en |access-date=11 November 2021}}</ref>
| status2 = {{TNCStatus}}
| status2_system = TNC
| status2_ref = <ref name="NatureServe">{{cite web |last1=NatureServe |title=''Pinus cembroides'' |url=https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.128155/Pinus_cembroides |access-date=22 October 2024 |location=Arlington, Virginia |date=2024}}</ref>
| genus = Pinus
| parent = Pinus subsect. Cembroides
| display_parents = 3
| species = cembroides
| authority = [[Zucc.]], 1832
| subdivision_ranks = Subspecies
| subdivision_ref = <ref name="POWO">{{cite POWO |id=262850-1 |title=''Pinus cembroides'' Zucc. |access-date=22 October 2024}}</ref>
| subdivision = {{Species list
 | P. cembroides subsp. cembroides |
 | P. cembroides subsp. orizabensis | D.K.Bailey
}}
| range_map = Pinus_cembroides_range_map.png
| range_map_caption = Natural range
| synonyms_ref = <ref>{{cite POWO |id=77169354-1 |title=''Pinus cembroides'' subsp. ''cembroides'' |access-date=22 October 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite POWO |id=282867-2 |title=''Pinus cembroides'' subsp. ''orizabensis'' D.K.Bailey |access-date=22 October 2024}}</ref>
| synonyms = {{Collapsible list | {{Species list
 | Pinus cembroides var. llaveana |(Schiede ex Schltdl.) Voss (1907)
 | Pinus cembroides var. orizabensis | (D.K.Bailey) Silba (1990)
 | Pinus llaveana | Schiede ex Schltdl. (1838)
 | Pinus orizabensis (D.K.Bailey) | D.K.Bailey & Hawksw. (1992)
 | Pinus osteosperma | Engelm. (1848)
}}
}}
}}

'''''Pinus cembroides''''', also known as '''pinyon pine''',<ref name=GRIN>{{GRIN | access-date = 15 December 2017}}</ref> '''Mexican pinyon''',<ref name=GRIN/> '''Mexican nut pine''',<ref name=GRIN/> and '''Mexican stone pine''',<ref name=GRIN/> is a [[pine]] in the [[pinyon pine]] group.

It is a small pine growing to about {{convert|20|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} with a trunk diameter of up to {{convert|50|cm|in|0|abbr=on}}. It is native to western [[North America]]. It grows in areas with low levels of rainfall and its range extends southwards from [[Arizona]], [[Texas]] and [[New Mexico]] in the United States into Mexico. It typically grows at altitudes between {{convert|1600|and|2400|m|abbr=on}}.

The seeds are large and form part of the diet of the [[Mexican jay]] and [[Abert's squirrel]]. They are also collected for human consumption, being the most widely used [[pine nut]] in Mexico.

==Description==
''Pinus cembroides'' is a small to medium-size [[tree]], reaching {{convert|8 to 20|m|ft}} tall and with a trunk diameter of up to {{convert|50|cm}}. The bark is dark brown, thick and deeply fissured at the base of the trunk. The [[leaf|leaves]] ('needles') are in mixed pairs and threes, slender, {{convert|3|cm|abbr=on|frac=4}} to {{convert|6|cm|abbr=on|frac=4}} long, and dull yellowish green, with [[stoma]]ta on both inner and outer surfaces.

The [[conifer cone|cones]] are globose, {{convert|3|cm|abbr=on|frac=4}} to {{convert|4|cm|abbr=on|frac=4}} long and broad when closed, green at first, ripening yellow-brown when 18–20 months old, with only a small number of thick scales, with typically 5-12 fertile scales. The cones open to {{convert|4|cm|abbr=on|frac=4}} to {{convert|5|cm|abbr=on|frac=4}} broad when mature, holding the [[seed]]s on the scales after opening. The seeds are {{convert|10|mm|abbr=on|frac=8}} to {{convert|12|mm|abbr=on|frac=8}} long, with a thick shell, a pink [[endosperm]], and a vestigial {{convert|2|mm|abbr=on|frac=16}} wing.{{Citation needed|date=November 2024}}

{{gallery|align=center|mode=packed|height=168
|File:Big Bend National Park PB122661.jpg|Tree
|File:Pinus cembroides - foliage.jpg|Foliage
|File:Pinus cembroides.jpg|Detail of foliage, cones
}}

==Taxonomy==
Mexican pinyon was the first [[pinyon pine]] described, named by [[Joseph Gerhard Zuccarini|Zuccarini]] in 1832. Many of the other pinyon pines have been treated as [[variety (biology)|varieties]] or [[subspecies]] of it at one time or another in the past, but research in the last 10–50 years has shown that most are distinct species. Some botanists still include [[Johann's pinyon]] and [[Orizaba pinyon]] in Mexican pinyon; the former accounts for records of "Mexican pinyon" in southern [[Arizona]] and [[New Mexico]].

Mexican pinyon is a relatively non-variable species, with constant morphology over the entire range except for the [[Disjunct distribution|disjunct]] population in the [[Sierra de la Laguna pine-oak forests]] of Baja California Sur; this is generally treated as a subspecies, ''Pinus cembroides'' subsp. ''lagunae'', although some botanists treat it as a separate species, ''P.&nbsp;lagunae.'' This subspecies differs from the type in having slightly longer leaves, between {{convert|4|cm|abbr=on|frac=4}} and {{convert|7|cm|abbr=on|frac=4}} and longer, narrower cones, up to {{convert|5.5|cm|abbr=on|frac=4}} long.{{Citation needed|date=November 2024}}

==Distribution and habitat==
The range extends from westernmost [[Texas]], United States (where it is restricted to the [[Chisos Mountains|Chisos]] and [[Davis Mountains]]), south through much of Mexico, occurring widely along the [[Sierra Madre Oriental]] and [[Sierra Madre Occidental]] ranges, and more rarely in the eastern [[Eje Volcánico Transversal]] range.<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=93 |isbn=978-1-4027-3875-3}}</ref> It lives in areas with little rainfall, which fluctuates between {{convert|380 to 640|mm|abbr=on}}.

The subspecies ''[[Pinus orizabensis]]'' (orizabensis) is found farther south in the state of [[Veracruz]]. There is also a disjunct population in the [[Sierra de la Laguna]] of southern [[Baja California Sur]]. It occurs at moderate altitudes, mostly from {{convert|1600 to 2400|m|abbr=on}}, which some authorities consider a separate species (''P.&nbsp;lagunae'').{{Citation needed|date=November 2024}}

==Ecology==
The seeds are dispersed by the [[Mexican jay]], which plucks the seeds out of the open cones. The jay, which uses the seeds as a major food resource, stores many of the seeds for later use, and some of these stored seeds are not used and are able to grow into new trees. [[Abert's squirrel]] also feeds on the seeds in preference to those of the [[ponderosa pine]].<ref>Hall, Joseph G. 1973. The Kiabab squirrel. In: Symposium on rare and endangered wildlife of the southwestern United States: Proceedings; 1972 September 22–23; Albuquerque, New Mexico. Santa Fe, New Mexico: [[New Mexico Department of Game and Fish]]: 18–21</ref>

==Conservation==
It is a common pine with a wide range and the [[International Union for Conservation of Nature]] has rated its conservation status as being of "[[least-concern species|least concern]]".

==Uses==
The seeds are widely collected in Mexico, being the main edible [[pine nut]] in the region. While palatable when raw, their flavor is considered to be improved when roasted.<ref>{{cite book |last=Peattie |first=Donald Culross |author-link=Donald C. Peattie |title=A Natural History of Western Trees |year=1953 |publisher=[[Bonanza Books]] |location=New York |page=66}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.pinetum.org/PhotoMPF.htm Photos of ''Pinus cembroides'' tree and foliage]
* [http://www.pinetum.org/cones/PNDucampopinus.htm Photo of cones (scroll half-way down)]

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[[Category:Pinus|Cembroides]]
[[Category:Flora of Central Mexico]]
[[Category:Flora of Northeastern Mexico]]
[[Category:Flora of Northwestern Mexico]]
[[Category:Flora of the South-Central United States]]
[[Category:Flora of Arizona]]
[[Category:Flora of Jalisco]]
[[Category:Flora of Michoacán]]
[[Category:Flora of Nayarit]]
[[Category:Flora of Veracruz]]
[[Category:Edible nuts and seeds]]
[[Category:Plants used in Native American cuisine]]
[[Category:Trees of Northern America]]