Pinus ayacahuite Ehrenb.

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Credits

Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles

Recommended citation
'Pinus ayacahuite' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/pinus/pinus-ayacahuite/). Accessed 2023-10-03.

Genus

Pinus

Common Names

Mexican White Pine

Infraspecifics

Other taxa in genus

Glossary

acuminate: Narrowing gradually to a point.
apex: (pl. apices) Tip. apical At the apex.
reflexed: Folded backwards.
variety: (var.) Taxonomic rank (varietas) grouping variants of a species with relatively minor differentiation in a few characters but occurring as recognisable populations. Often loosely used for rare minor variants more usefully ranked as forms.

References

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Credits

Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles

Recommended citation
'Pinus ayacahuite' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/pinus/pinus-ayacahuite/). Accessed 2023-10-03.

Pinus ayacahuite 24 m tall at Althorp Park, Northamptonshire, UK; August 2014. Image Owen Johnson.

A tree attaining 100 ft or slightly more in the wild; trunk grey, smooth on young trees, becoming shallowly furrowed and reddish brown with age; terminal buds brown, resinous, about 1⁄2 in. long, the scales with free, acuminate tips. Young branchlets usually covered with a short, brown down. Leaves in fives, very slender, falling the third year, 4 to 7 in. long, three-sided, the outer side green, the two inner surfaces each with three or four white lines of stomata, margins toothed; leaf-sheaths 3⁄4 in. long, soon falling away. Cones 6 to 12 in. long, 1 to 21⁄2 in. wide before expanding, cylindrical, with a tapered, slightly curved apex; they are pendulous, shortly stalked, and borne in twos or threes, or sometimes singly; scales about 1 in. wide, with a blunt, resinous, sometimes reflexed apex, but the basal scales always strongly reflexed. Seeds with a relatively narrow wing 1 in. or even more long, the body of the seed about 3⁄8 in. long.

Native of Guatemala and of southern and central Mexico, from 8,000 to 10,000 ft, in sheltered valleys or on the slopes of the moister mountain ranges, where even in the dry season there is frequent low cloud and drizzle. It was introduced to Britain by Hartweg, who sent cones to the Horticultural Society from Guatemala in 1840. But the existing trees probably all derive from later introductions and some belong to the following variety:

From the Supplement (Vol. V)

specimens: Kew, pl. 1873, 54 × 31⁄2 ft (1974) and, pl. 1904, 53 × 43⁄4 ft (1972); R.H.S. Garden, Wisley, Surrey, Pinetum, 82 × 8 ft (1983); Dropmore, Bucks., pl. 1912, 88 × 71⁄4 ft (1982); Little Kingsmill Grange, Bucks., in Priestwood (Harewood), pl. 1929, 62 × 53⁄4 ft (1983); Stratford Park, Stroud, Glos., 72 × 63⁄4 ft (1984); Bicton, Devon, 98 × 81⁄2 ft, disbranched to 88 ft (1983) and 69 × 9 ft (1977); Tregrehan, Cornwall, 94 × 63⁄4 ft (1979); Bodnant, Gwyn., pl. 1902, 82 × 111⁄4 ft and 95 × 103⁄4 ft (1984).

[var. brachyptera] – This is certainly a distinct species – P. strobiformis Engelm. It is not confined to Mexico, having a fairly wide range in the mountains of the south-western USA.

Pinus ayacahuite with a bole 1.41 m broad in May 2016 at Bodnant, north Wales. Image Owen Johnson.

Pinus ayacahuite 31 m tall at Bodnant, North Wales, in May 2016. This tree is believed to have arisen as a seedling from the two older specimens further up the bank. Image Owen Johnson.

var. brachyptera Shaw

Synonyms
P. strobiformis Engelm

Seed about {1/2} in. long, the wing reduced to a mere rim or absent. Native of N. Mexico, commonest in the states of Coahuila and Durango. Probably not in cultivation, but worthy of introduction, as it should succeed in eastern England.

var. veitchii Shaw

Synonyms
P. veitchii Roezl .
P. bonapartea Roezl ex Gard. Chron.
P. loudoniana Gord

Body of seed relatively larger, about {1/2} in. long, wing shorter and relatively broader, about {1/2} in. long. Cones sometimes as long as 15 in., with scales 1{1/8} to 1{1/4} in. wide. According to Martinez there is the further difference that the scales are thicker and stronger than in the typical state of the species. This variety is apparently confined to central Mexico, where intermediate forms also occur (Martinez).P. ayacahuite and the var. veitchii are both likely to vary in hardiness, according to provenance. The famous tree at Westonbirt is now decrepit and no longer bears cones, but at one time it coned freely and many seedlings were raised from it (some of which proved to be hybrid; see P. × holfordiana). This tree certainly belongs to the var. veitchii; Shaw, who saw cones from it in the Herbarium of the Arnold Arboretum, actually cites it in his description of var. veitchii. The statement by Elwes and Henry that var. veitchii is tender probably refers to the original introduction by Roezl (as P. veitchii).Among the largest or oldest specimens of P. ayacahuite (some may be var. veitchii) are: Kew, pl. 1873, 54 × 3{1/2} ft (1974) and another, possibly a seedling of the Westonbirt tree, pl. 1904, 49 × 4{1/2} ft (1966); R.H.S. Pinetum, Wisley, Surrey, 62 × 7{1/4} ft (1969); Hergest Croft, Heref., pl. 1916, 60 × 6 ft (1968); Bicton, Devon, 88 × 7{1/2} ft and 78 × 8{3/4} ft (1968); Bodnant, Denb., pl. 1902, 64 × 10{3/4} ft and 71 × 10{1/2} ft (1974); Fota, Co. Cork, Eire, pl. 1902, 60 × 7{3/4} ft (1966).The Westonbirt specimen of var. veitchii, mentioned above, has lost its top; it measured 62 × 6{3/4} ft in 1909 and is now 8{1/2} ft in girth (1971).

Pinus veitchii – fully ripened seed cone. This taxon is now generally considered to be a distinct species, or a subspecies of P. strobiformis. Image Nick Macer.

The distinctive cone of a VERA collection of Pinus veitchii at Sandling Park, Kent, UK, in 2018. Image Owen Johnson.

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