Pinus ayacahuite var. veitchii

(Roezl) G.R. Shaw 1909

Common names

Pino de Navidad [Spanish].

Taxonomic notes

Syn.: Pinus veitchii Roezl 1857, Pinus popocatepetlii Roezl 1857, Pinus loudoniana Gordon 1858, Pinus ayacahuite subsp. loudoniana (Gordon) E. Murray 1983, Pinus ayacahuite var. loudoniana (Gordon) Silba 1990 (Farjon 1998).

Description

For particulars, see the species description. Var. veitchii is distinguished by its cones, which are 15-50 cm long with a thickened and greatly elongated apophysis, giving the whole cone a woody appearance more reminiscent of a hard pine such a P. coulteri than of typical white pines. Also, the seed winds are shorter, typically less than twice the length of the seed (Farjon and Styles 1997).

Distribution and Ecology

Mexico: Guanajuato, Hidalgo, México, Michoacán, Morelos, Puebla, Querétaro, Tlaxcala, Veracruz (Farjon and Styles 1997); it is also placed in Jalisco and Guerrero by Perry (1991). It commonly grows as an emergent in mixed conifer or pine-oak montane forests, often in areas receiving occasional snow, at (2000-)2500-3200(-3600) m elevation. In areas where it is sympatric with var. ayacahuite, hybridization probably occurs (Farjon and Styles 1997).

Big tree

The largest I have seen was a specimen of var. veitchii 137 cm dbh and 32 m tall, which we found on the NE slopes of Popocatepetl in 2005. Another tree in the same area was only 105 cm dbh, but 42.1 m tall. I have no other data on big trees.

Oldest

Dendrochronology

Ethnobotany

Observations

Remarks

Citations

See also

Musalem, Miguel Angel, and Alvaro Ramírez Luis [compiladores]. 2003. Monografía de Pinus ayacahuite var. veitchii Shaw. Libro Técnico No. 6. División forestal. México, D.F.: Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Forestales y Pecuarias. 364 p.