Pinus lambertiana
Sugar pine | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Gymnospermae |
Division: | Pinophyta |
Class: | Pinopsida |
Order: | Pinales |
Family: | Pinaceae |
Genus: | Pinus |
Subgenus: | P. subg. Strobus
|
Section: | P. sect. Quinquefoliae
|
Subsection: | P. subsect. Strobus
|
Species: | P. lambertiana
|
Binomial name | |
Pinus lambertiana | |
Natural range of Pinus lambertiana |
Pinus lambertiana (commonly known as the sugar pine or sugar cone pine) is the tallest and most massive pine tree, and has the longest cones of any conifer. The species name lambertiana was given by the Scottish botanist David Douglas, who named the tree in honour of the English botanist, Aylmer Bourke Lambert. It is native to coastal and inland mountain areas along the Pacific coast of North America, as far north as Oregon and as far south as Baja California in Mexico.
Description
Growth
The sugar pine is the tallest and largest Pinus species, commonly growing to 40–60 meters (130–195 ft) tall, exceptionally to 82 m (269 ft) tall, with a trunk diameter of 1.2–2.5 m (3 ft 11 in – 8 ft 2 in), exceptionally 3.5 m (11 ft 6 in).[2] The tallest recorded specimen is 83.45 m (273 ft 9 in) tall, is located in Yosemite National Park, and was discovered in 2015.[3] The second tallest recorded was "Yosemite Giant", an 82.05 m (269 ft 2 in) tall specimen in Yosemite National Park, which died from a bark beetle attack in 2007. The tallest known living specimens today grow in southern Oregon and Yosemite National Park: one in Umpqua National Forest is 77.7 m (254 ft 11 in) tall and another in Siskiyou National Forest is 77.2 m (253 ft 3 in) tall. Yosemite National Park also has the third tallest, measured to 80.5 m (264 ft 1 in) tall as of June 2013; the Rim Fire affected this specimen, but it survived.
The bark of Pinus lambertiana ranges from brown to purple in color and is 5–10 centimeters (2–4 in) thick.
Distribution
The sugar pine occurs in the mountains of Oregon and
Genome
The massive 31 gigabase mega-genome of sugar pine has been sequenced in 2016 by the large PineRefSeq consortium.[7] This makes the genome one of the largest sequenced and assembled so far.[7]
The transposable elements that make up the megagenome are linked to the evolutionary change of the sugar pine. The sugar pine contains extended regions of
Embryonal growth
In late stage of embryonal development, the sugar pine embryo changes from a smooth and narrow paraboloid to a less symmetric structure. This configuration is caused by a transverse orientation of division planes in the upper portion of the embryo axis. The root initial zone is established, and the epicotyl develops as an anlage flanked by regions of that define the cotyledonary buttresses. At this stage, the embryo is composed of the suspensor, root initials and root cap region, hypocotyl-shoot axis, and the epicotyl. The upper (distal) portion of the embryo, which gives rise to the cotyledons and the epicotyl, is considered to be the shoot apex.[9]
Shoot apex
The apex has the following four zones:[10]
- The apical initials produce all cells of the shoot apex through cell division. It is located at the top of the meristem and the cells are larger in size compared to other cells on the surface layer.
- The central mother cell generates the rib meristem and the inner layers of the peripheral tissue zone through cell division. It presents a typical gymnosperm appearance and is characterized by cell expansion and unusual mitosis that occurs in the central region. The rate of mitosis increases on its outer edge.
- The peripheral tissue zone consists of two layers of cells that are characterized by dense cytoplasm and mitosis of high frequency.
- Lastly, the rib meristem is a regular arrangement of vertical files of cells which mature into the pith of the axis.
Etymology
Naturalist John Muir considered sugar pine to be the "king of the conifers". The common name comes from the sweet resin, which Native Americans used as a sweetener.[11] John Muir found it preferable to maple sugar.[12] It is also known as the great sugar pine. The scientific name was assigned by David Douglas, who was the first to describe it in 1826,[2] in honor of Aylmer Bourke Lambert.
Ecology
Wildlife
The large size and high nutritional value of the sugar pine seeds are appealing to many species. Yellow pine chipmunks (
Black bears (
Threats
Sugar pine trees have been impacted by the mountain pine beetle (
The sugar pine has been severely affected by the white pine blister rust (
The species is generally resistant to fire because of its thick bark and because it clears away competing species.[2] However, its mortality has been directly linked to dryer conditions and higher temperatures. Sugar pine trees grow in western North America, a region already impacted by climate change. Higher temperatures within a sugar pine forest can lower resin levels within the tree which will cause less protection against pathogens. At the same time the warmer winters make the survival of the pests and pathogens more likely. The weakened or dying trees then provide fuel to the forest fires, which may become more frequent and more intense, if the climate change results in warmer temperatures in summer, particularly if coupled with drier conditions and stronger winds.[20]
Protective efforts
Sugar pine trees are in a slow decline because of the several threats it faces: white pine blister rust, mountain pine beetles and climate change. Efforts to restore sugar pines and other white pine trees that have been impacted by invasive species, climate change and fires have been undertaken by governmental and non-governmental entities. One of the latter is a non-for-profit organization called Sugar Pine Foundation created in 2004 to plant sugar pine seeds in the Sierra Nevada along the border of California and Nevada.[19] They plant seedlings grown from seeds collected from blister rust resistant trees. In order to identify if the trees resistant to that pathogen, Sugar Pine Foundation tested over 500 sugar pine trees and have found 66 resistant trees.[19] The foundation is building a sugar pine population that is resistant to white pine rust because the fungus is a major threat and will continue to kill sugar pine trees at a very high rate.[21]
Uses
According to David Douglas, who was guided to the (exceptionally thick) tree specimen he was looking for by a Native American,[2] some tribes ate the sweetish seeds. These were eaten raw and roasted, and also used to make flour or pulverized into a spread.[2] Native Americans also ate the inner bark.[2] The sweet sap or pitch was consumed, in small quantities due to its laxative properties,[22] but could also be chewed as gum.[2] Its flavor is thought largely to be derived from the pinitol it contains.[2]
In the mid-19th century, the trees were used liberally as lumber during the
The odorless wood is also preferred for packing fruit, as well as storing drugs and other goods. Its straight grain also makes it a useful organ pipe material.[22]
Folklore
In the
After Ahsoballache marries the daughter of To'kis the Chipmunk-woman, his grandfather insists that the new couple have a child. To this end, the grandfather breaks open a scale from a sugar pine cone, and secretly instructs Ahsoballache to immerse the scale's contents in spring water, then hide them inside a covered basket. Ahsoballache performs the tasks that night; at the next dawn, he and his wife discover the infant Edechewe near their bed.[23]
The Washo language has a word for sugar pine, simt'á:gɨm, and also a word for "sugar pine sugar", nanómba.
References
- . Retrieved 13 November 2021.
- ^ OCLC 1141235469.
- ^ "3 Sierra sugar pines added to list of 6 biggest in world". Associated Press. South Lake Tahoe, California. 31 Jan 2021. Retrieved 13 Feb 2023.
- ^ Jepson Flora Project (ed.). "Pinus lambertiana". Jepson eFlora. The Jepson Herbarium, University of California, Berkeley.
- ^ a b Kral, Robert (1993). "Pinus lambertiana". In Flora of North America Editorial Committee (ed.). Flora of North America North of Mexico (FNA). Vol. 2. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press – via eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA.
- ^ Earle, Christopher J., ed. (2018). "Pinus lambertiana". The Gymnosperm Database.
- ^ PMID 27794028.
- PMID 27799338.
- ^ Berlyn, Graeme P (1967). "The Structure of Germination in Pinus Lambertiana Dougl". Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, Bulletin Series. 77.
- .
- ^ "Sugar pine". Oregonencyclopedia.org. Retrieved 18 June 2017.
- ISBN 0-486-23310-3.
- JSTOR 3505625.
- .
- ^ "Mountain pine beetle". Ontarios invading species awareness program. 2012. Archived from the original on 2020-09-27.
- JSTOR 4493673.
- ISBN 978-1-4027-3875-3.
- ^ Maloney, P; Duriscoe, D; Smith, D; Burton, D; Davis, D; Pickett, J; Cousineau, R; Dunlap, J. "White Pine Blister Rust on High Elevation White Pines in California" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2006-10-09. Retrieved 2007-02-05.
- ^ a b c "Sugar Pine Foundation". Sugarpinefoundation.org. Retrieved 18 June 2017.
- doi:10.3390/f8070244.
- .
- ^ Bonanza Books. p. 55.
- ^ OCLC 631716557.
Further reading
- OCLC 3477527.
- Kinloch Jr., Bohun B.; Scheuner, William H. (1990). "Pinus lambertiana". In Burns, Russell M.; Honkala, Barbara H. (eds.). Conifers. Silvics of North America. Vol. 1. Washington, D.C.: United States Forest Service (USFS), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) – via Southern Research Station.
- Habeck, R. J. (1992). "Pinus lambertiana". Fire Effects Information System (FEIS). US Department of Agriculture (USDA), Forest Service (USFS), Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory.
External links
- U.C. Jepson Manual treatment for Pinus lambertiana
- US Forest Service – Dorena Genetic Resource Center – USFS rust resistance program
- The Sugar Pine Foundation – The Sugar Pine and Western White Pine Restoration Program
- Pinus lambertiana in the CalPhotos photo database, University of California, Berkeley
- Farjon, A. (2013). "Pinus lambertiana". . Retrieved 13 November 2021.
- Arboretum de Villardebelle: photo of a cone