Pinus longaeva

Bristlecone Pine (Pinus longaeva )

The Bristlecone Pine ( Pinus longaeva, Pinus aristata var Syn longaeva ( DK Bailey ) Little), also Durable Bristlecone Pine or Western bristlecone pine called, is a species of the genus pine (Pinus ) within the family of Pinaceae ( Pinaceae ). Until about 1970, she was considered a local variety of the Bristlecone Pine ( Pinus aristata ) and was then separated as a distinct species Pinus longaeva. In the Patriarch Grove in the White Mountains in California are 17 copies of the long-lived pine, which are over 4000 years old. One of them, whose age was determined from 4700 years by counting of annual rings in a small core that bears the name " Methuselah ". Since 2012 is a new record holder, also known in the White Mountains. His age is given as 5062 years to date.

• 6.1 Literature
• 6.2 References

Description

Habit

The Bristlecone Pine is an evergreen tree, the plant height 5-20 meters and diameter at breast height of up to 1.5 meters, achieved in exceptional cases up to 3.5 meters. The stem form and plant height depend greatly on the particular location. However, the nature reserves also close to the tree line at an upright growth habit. Young trees grow straight and have short, slender branches. Old trees, the wind or heavy drought are exposed, usually set at 5 to 10 meters, a height growth and grow almost purely in extent. Extreme breast height diameter are likely to be achieved by the convergence of several tribes. The drooping, bent and pointing in different directions branches are considered to be typical for this type. Long shoots are 0.8 to 7.2 inches long. Many lateral shoots arise from the terminal buds of short shoots.

Needles

The 2 to 4 -inch-long needles are five of us, rarely fourth, closely standing together on short shoots. They are brilliantly colored dark green, relatively stiff, have a blunt tip and are the branch to close. On the bottom there are several needle stomatal rows. There are rarely colorless resin tropical formed with a smooth surface. The needles remain 25-30, in extreme cases up to 38 years on the tree. Possible causes for such a high needle age is the annual renewal of the phloem of the needle bundle or the cardinality of the Cuticulawachsschicht that does not diminish with the needle age, but is always 5-9 microns thick.

Flowers, cones and seeds

The reddish, 10-12 mm long, male cones dust from July to early August. The female cones are blue. The initially deep purple, spindle-shaped cones are between 5.5 and 8.5 inches long and are widest at the base. A small portion of the population is from green cones. The cone scales are highly resinous and have a navel, which expires in a 4 to 6 millimeters long, grannenartigen extension. At the spigot base these extensions are shorter or absent. Even 3,000 year old trees still form of cones. The pale brown, slightly marbled and winged seeds ripen in late September / early October. They are 6-8 millimeters long. The wing is difficult to separate from the seed body. The actually on wind dispersal ( Anemochorie ) designed seeds of longevity pine are widespread especially in windy highlands of the Clark's Nutcracker ( Nucifraga columbiana ).

Bark

The gray to reddish -brown bark varies both in color and in the structure strong. The bark covered especially in extreme locations only a fraction of the tribe. It is thus only part of the crown regularly supplied, making it green.

Wood

The reddish tinted wood is resinous and relatively hard. Occasionally, resin canals in the wood rays. The annual rings are clearly visible. The wood can be neither anatomically nor in the appearance of the different of the Bristlecone Pine ( Pinus aristata ) or the foxtail pine ( Pinus balfouriana ).

Similar Species

• The otherwise very similar Bristlecone Pine ( Pinus aristata ) is not to be confused by their characteristic white resin flakes of needles and cones.
• The Foxtail Pine ( Pinus balfouriana ) has virtually no Grannenfortsätze to the cone scales.

Distribution and location

The Bristlecone Pine comes in different, mutually insulated held by it in California, Utah and Nevada and grows in the mountainous regions. The range extends west to the White Mountains in eastern California to the northeast to the Sowers Canyon in Utah, east to the White Pine County and south to the Clark County in Nevada. World famous is the presence in the White Mountains, since there are more than 4000 -year-old specimens.

The Bristlecone Pine is a light tree, which is found at altitudes 2200-3700 meters and often forms the tree line there. It grows mostly on ridges and steep slopes and is fully hardy. However, the type is sensitive to lateral pressure and shading. The annual rainfall is on average 300 mm. In the warmest months the very short growing season, the monthly average is only slightly above 10 ° C. There are colonized mainly limestone and dolomite weathering floors and granite, quartzite and sandstone. In the natural habitat occur frequently winter storms.

Ecology

The Bristlecone Pine makes clear, pure stands at the tree line. On the more nutritious and better supplied with water soils at the lower end of its altitudinal distribution it comes together with the Nevada Zirbelkiefer before (Pinus flexilis ). You reached only on shallow, oligotrophic, very dry and exposed to high wind locations with almost no ground cover and competition of tree species has an extremely high age. In these situations, the species is also affected by any pests.

The Clark's Nutcracker ( Nucifraga columbiana ) collects the seeds and buries them in around 30 centimeters deep holes. Only by burying the seeds can germinate in windy locations, as seeds that lie on the surface, dry out or be blown away. Seedlings from such collections often form up to eleven tribes scoring groups. The seedlings grow so dense that subsequent strain mergers are inevitable.

Use

The Bristlecone Pine has no economic significance. Since it is able to colonize heavily exposed extreme locations and there to form the tree line, it is of great ecological importance. In 1964, the geography student Donald Rusk Currey in Nevada a copy ( with 4950 years wrestling, as it turned out ) cases, whose remains now serve as the standard for dendrochronological annual ring tables. These are also an essential calibration help for the radiocarbon dating method. The precipitated in Nevada copy bears the name "Prometheus". In the studies of this species is based Bristlecone Pines chronology.

System

The species Pinus longaeva was spun off in 1970 by Dana K. Bailey of the Bristlecone Pine ( Pinus aristata ) on the basis of needle and zapfenmorphologischen and chemotaxic between differences.

Swell

• Description and taxonomy of the species at The Gymnosperm Database. (English )