Raffi at 14:28, 27 March 2007

2007-03-27T14:28:50Z

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{{Taxobox
| color = lightgreen
| name = Colorado Pinyon
| status = LR/lc
| image = Pinus_edulis.jpg
| image_width = 240px
| image_caption = Colorado Pinyons at [[Bryce Canyon National Park]]
| regnum = [[Plant]]ae
| divisio = [[Pinophyta]]
| classis = [[Pinophyta|Pinopsida]]
| ordo = [[Pinales]]
| familia = [[Pinaceae]]
| genus = ''[[Pine|Pinus]]''
| subgenus = ''[[Pinus classification|Ducampopinus]]''
| species = '''''P. edulis'''''
| binomial = ''Pinus edulis''
| binomial_authority = [[George Engelmann|Engelm.]]
}}

The '''Colorado Pinyon''' or '''Two-needle Pinyon''' (''[[Pinus]] edulis'') is a [[pine]] in the [[pinyon pine]] group, native to the [[United States]]. The range is in [[Colorado]], eastern and central [[Utah]], northern [[Arizona]], [[New Mexico]] and the [[Guadalupe Mountains National Park|Guadalupe Mountains]] in westernmost [[Texas]]. It occurs at moderate altitudes from 1600-2400 m, rarely as low as 1400 m and as high as 3000 m. It is widespread and often abundant in this region, forming extensive open woodlands, usually mixed with [[juniper]]s.

It is a small to medium size [[tree]], reaching 10-20 m tall and with a trunk diameter of up to 80 cm, rarely more. The bark is irregularly furrowed and scaly. The [[leaf|leaves]] ('needles') are in pairs, moderately stout, 3-5.5 cm long, and green, with [[stomata]] on both inner and outer surfaces but distinctly more on the inner surface forming a whitish band. The [[conifer cone|cones]] are globose, 3-5 cm long and broad when closed, green at first, ripening yellow-buff when 18-20 months old, with only a small number of thick scales, with typically 5-10 fertile scales. The cones open to 4-6 cm broad when mature, holding the [[seed]]s on the scales after opening. The seeds are 10-14 mm long, with a thin shell, a white [[endosperm]], and a vestigial 1-2 mm wing; they are dispersed by the [[Pinyon Jay]], which plucks the seeds out of the open cones. The jay, which uses the seeds as a 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.

Colorado Pinyon was described by [[George Engelmann]] in [[1848]] from collections made near [[Santa Fe, New Mexico]] on [[Alexander William Doniphan]]'s expedition to northern Mexico in [[1846]].

It is most closely related to the [[Single-leaf Pinyon]], which [[hybrid]]ises with it occasionally where their ranges meet in western Arizona and Utah. It is also closely related to the [[Texas Pinyon]], but is separated from it by a gap of about 100 km so does not hybridise with it.

An isolated population of trees in the [[New York Mountains]] of southeast [[California]], previously thought to be Colorado Pinyons, have recently been shown to be a two-needled variant of Single-leaf Pinyon from chemical and genetic evidence. Occasional two-needled pinyons in northern [[Baja California]], [[Mexico]] have sometimes been referred to Colorado Pinyon in the past, but are now known to be hybrids between Single-leaf Pinyon and [[Parry Pinyon]].

===Uses===
The [[List of edible seeds|edible seeds]], [[pine nut]]s, are extensively collected throughout its range; in many areas, the seed harvest rights are owned by [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native American]] tribes, for whom the species is of immense cultural and economic importance. The destruction of large areas of pinyon forests in the interests of [[cattle]] ranching is seen by many as an act of major ecological and cultural vandalism. Colorado Pinyon is also occasionally planted as an ornamental tree and sometimes used as a [[christmas tree]].

It is the [[List of U.S. state trees|State tree]] of [[New Mexico]].

==References and external links==
* {{IUCN2006|assessors=Conifer Specialist Group|year=1998|id=42360|title=Pinus edulis|downloaded=12 May 2006}}
*Ronald M. Lanner, 1981. ''The Piñon Pine: A Natural and Cultural History''. University of Nevada Press. ISBN 0-87417-066-4.
*[http://www.conifers.org/pi/pin/edulis.htm Gymnosperm Database: ''Pinus edulis'']
*[http://www.pinetum.org/cones/PNDucampop
inus.htm Photo of cones (scroll ¾-way down)]
*[http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=PIED USDA Plants Profile: ''Pinus edulis'']

[[Category:Pinaceae|Pinyon, Colorado]]
[[Category:Trees of Colorado|Pinyon, Colorado]]
[[Category:Trees of Arizona|Pinyon, Colorado]]
[[Category:Trees of New Mexico|Pinyon, Colorado]]
[[Category:Trees of Utah|Pinyon, Colorado]]
[[Category:Trees of California|Pinyon, Colorado]]
[[Category:Trees of Southwestern United States|Pinyon, Colorado]]

[[Category:Trees of Oklahoma|Pinyon, Colorado]]
[[Category:Trees of Western Texas|Pinyon, Colorado]]
[[Category:Trees of Wyoming|Pinyon, Colorado]]

Colorado Pinyon - Revision history

Raffi at 14:28, 27 March 2007