Pinus strobiformis
Common name: 
Southwestern White Pine
Mexican White Pine
Chihuahua White Pine
Pronunciation: 
PI-nus strob-i-FORM-is
Family: 
Pinaceae
Genus: 
Type: 
Conifer
Native to (or naturalized in) Oregon: 
No
  • Conifer, evergreen tree, to 90 (27 m) tall, open, irregular crown, branches are long and horizontal to pendant.  Bark is thin, rough, and furrowed.  Needles are 6-10 cm long in fascicles of five, bundle sheath abscising soon; needles soft, finely serrated near tips, thin bluish-green with white stomatal lines only on inner surfaces.   Cones are 15-25 cm long with reflexed, thick scales; open (dehiscent) when mature, which occurs in late summer; seeds are essentially wingless 10-12 mm long.
  • Sun.  Reportedly the best growth occurs on moist, cool sites with deep soil.
  • Hardy to USDA Zone 4      Native to the mountains of western Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and southwestern Colorado and into the mountains to central Mexico; most of its distribution is in Mexico.  Pinus strobiformis overlaps P . flexilis and reportedly hybridizes with it.  On average P . strobiformis has longer, more slender leaves and thinner, more spreading-tipped apophyses (the parts of the cone scales exposed when the cone is closed) than are found in P . flexilis, and stomatal bands are not evident on the abaxial surface of its leaves (Flora of North America, www.eFloras.org).
  • strobiformis: Latin strobus, gum yielding tree; formis, in the form or shape of, (possibly a reference to its appearance being similar to Pinus strobus, (Eastern) White Pine).
  • Hesston, Kansas:  Dyck Arboretum of the Plains

 

 

 

 

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    plant habit

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    branches

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  • bud and needle bundles

    bud and needle bundles

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    stem with needle bundles

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    cone