Jeffrey pine
| Jeffrey pine | |
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| A stand of east side Jeffrey pine growing on volcanic table lands south of Mono Lake, Ca. | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Division: | Pinophyta |
| Class: | Pinopsida |
| Order: | Pinales |
| Family: | Pinaceae |
| Genus: | Pinus |
| Subgenus: | Pinus |
| Species: | P. jeffreyi |
| Binomial name | |
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Pinus jeffreyi Balf. |
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Jeffrey pine (Pinus jeffreyi) also known as Jeffrey's pine, yellow pine and black pine, is a North American pine tree. It is mainly found in California, but also in the westernmost part of Nevada, southwestern Oregon, and northern Baja California. It is named in honor of its botanist documenter John Jeffrey.
Jeffrey pine occurs from southwest Oregon south through much of California (mainly in the Sierra Nevada), to northern Baja California in Mexico. It is a high-altitude species; in the north of its range, it grows widely at 1,500 to 2,100 m (4,900 to 6,900 ft) altitude, and at 1,800 to 2,900 m (5,900 to 9,500 ft) in the south of its range.
Jeffrey pine is tolerant of serpentine soils and is often dominant in these conditions, even on dry sites at fairly low altitudes. On other soils, it only becomes dominant at higher altitudes where the usually faster-growing ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) does not thrive. Jeffrey pine is more stress tolerant than the closely related Ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa). At higher elevations, on poorer soils, in colder climates, and in dryer climates, Jeffrey pine replaces ponderosa as the dominant tree.
Jeffrey pine is a large coniferous evergreen tree, reaching 25 to 40 m (82 to 131 ft) tall, rarely up to 53 m (174 ft) tall, though smaller when growing at or near tree line. The leaves are needle-like, in bundles of three, stout, glaucous gray-green, 12 to 23 cm (4.7 to 9.1 in) long. The cones are 12 to 24 cm (4.7 to 9.4 in) long, dark purple when immature, ripening pale brown, with thinly woody scales bearing a short, sharp inward-pointing barb. The seeds are 10 to 12 mm (0.39 to 0.47 in) long, with a large (15 to 25 mm (0.59 to 0.98 in)) wing.
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