Yellow pine

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Yellow pine
Yellow pine (Pinus ponderosa), cones

Yellow pine ( Pinus ponderosa ), cones

Systematics
Class : Coniferopsida
Order : Conifers (Coniferales)
Family : Pine family (Pinaceae)
Subfamily : Pinoideae
Genre : Pine ( Pinus )
Type : Yellow pine
Scientific name
Pinus ponderosa
P.Lawson & C.Lawson

The yellow pine ( Pinus ponderosa ), also called golden pine or Ponderosa pine , is a species of pine from the pine family (Pinaceae). In their home in western North America, this hardy pine is an important supplier of wood . It is also the official state tree for the US state of Montana .

distribution

The yellow pine is native to western North America in the Rocky Mountains . Their range extends in north-south direction from British Columbia to Mexico ; to the east the area extends to Montana , North Dakota , Nebraska , Colorado and Texas .

In Europe , the yellow pine is planted in experimental forestry. Although it is hardy in Central Europe , it is less common in parks. The abbreviation as commercial timber according to EN 13556 is PNPO.

description

The yellow pine is a stately evergreen tree , which in the most favorable natural locations ( Siskiyou Mountains ) reaches heights of growth of up to 70 meters, but mostly around 30 to 40 meters. It forms a conical crown ; even with old trees, the crown retains its slim, pointed shape. The bark is strongly grooved and has smooth yellowish to reddish-brown and pinkish tinted plates. The buds are red-brown. The dark green needles are three in short shoots ; they are about 18 to 22 inches long.

The male cones are dark red-brown; when dusting in June they are about 4 inches long. The female cones are at the end mostly in groups of up to five. The cones are initially dark purple and later turn dark brown; they are usually 7 to 10 centimeters long, but are quite variable in shape and size.

The number of chromosomes is 2n = 24.

Yellow pines and forest fires

The yellow pine is particularly well adapted to light forest fires . Studies of natural forest stands have shown that this species experiences a forest fire on average once every ten years. The bark, which is over five centimeters thick, also contributes to the ability to withstand a light forest fire.

Typical for stands with yellow pines is an undergrowth of Douglas fir , which are much more sensitive to fire. In the regular, natural forest fires, the Douglas firs are usually destroyed by the fire. Since the trees are then still relatively low, a fire burning in the undergrowth in a stand of yellow pine cannot spread to the crowns of these trees. Natural stands of yellow pine are therefore often reminiscent of a park , as the trees are far apart and a fire spreads below them.

Since the early 20th century, forest management practices in western North America have taken numerous measures to prevent forest fires. This has led to a growing stock of Douglas fir , which also often grow too densely. Removing the undergrowth is usually not economically viable. Since the regular fires are suppressed, the amount of undergrowth accumulates over the decades. Once this large amount of biomass catches fire, the fire has so much food that, unlike normally, the crowns of the yellow pines catch fire. The yellow pines can often no longer recover from the damage. Forest fires that are not fought early enough therefore often take on devastating proportions today. The dense Douglas fir stands burn very intensely and due to the size that they have now reached, the fires spread to the crowns of the yellow pines. This regularly results in firestorms in which the flames hit the air over 100 meters and which reach such a high temperature that the stocks of conifer seeds in the ground are destroyed. Such strong fires often follow mudslides and soil erosion. Since the artificial density of the pines also reduces the survival probability of the stand, attempts are now being made to rebuild the forests in such a way that the stand densities are achieved that existed before the colonization of North America by the old world.

etymology

The species name ponderosa is derived from the Latin word “ponderosus” (German: heavy), as the wood of the yellow pine has a high specific weight.

Systematics

There are up to four subspecies (some authors use varieties, some of which are also their own species):

  • Pinus ponderosa subsp. benthiama (Hartw.) Silba : According to WCSP, it is a synonym for Pinus ponderosa subsp. to ask ponderosa .
  • Pinus ponderosa var. Pacifica J.R. Haller & Vivrette : This variety, first described in 2011, occurs in California.
  • Pinus ponderosa subsp. ponderosa : It occurs from southwest Canada to the western United States.
  • Pinus ponderosa subsp. scopulorum (Engelm.) AEMurray (Syn .: Pinus ponderosa subsp. brachyptera (Engelm.) Silba ): It occurs from the western and west-central United States to northern Mexico.

Synonyms of Pinus ponderosa are: Pinus beardsleyi A.Murray , Pinus benthamiana Hartw. , Pinus craigiana A.Murray , Pinus jeffreyi var. Ambigua Lemmon , Pinus jeffreyi var. Nigricans Lemmon , Pinus nootkatensis Manetti ex Gordon , Pinus parryana Gordon , Pinus ponderosa var. Benthamiana (Hartw.) Vasey , Pinus ponderosa f. crispata Heavy. , Pinus ponderosa var. Nana Beissn. , Pinus ponderosa var. Nigricans (Lemmon) Lemmon , Pinus ponderosa var. Parryana (Gordon) Rob. , Pinus ponderosa var. Pendula H.W. Coffin. , Pinus ponderosa subsp. washoensis (H.Mason & Stockw.) AE Murray , Pinus sinclairiana Carrière and Pinus washoensis H.Mason & Stockw.

Picture gallery

  • Pinus ponderosa subsp. ponderosa , Klamath Marsh National Wildlife Refuge

  • Pinus ponderosa subsp. ponderosa , Klamath Marsh National Wildlife Refuge

  • Pinus ponderosa subsp. ponderosa , cultivated, Newcastle , UK

  • Pinus ponderosa

  • Pinus ponderosa ; this tree is considered to be the tallest specimen of its kind in Oregon

Trivia

The tree gave its name to the Ponderosa ranch in the US western series Bonanza .

swell

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Pinus ponderosa at Tropicos.org. Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis
  2. ↑ Species description at San Franciscan State University, accessed on February 11, 2012 ( Memento of the original from December 11, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / bss.sfsu.edu
  3. ↑ a b c Rafaël Govaerts (Ed.): Pinus. In: World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP) - The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved April 19, 2019.

Web links

Commons : Yellow Pine  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files