Sugar pine
| Sugar pine | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Division: | Pinophyta |
| Class: | Pinopsida |
| Order: | Pinales |
| Family: | Pinaceae |
| Genus: | Pinus |
| Subgenus: | Strobus |
| Species: | P. lambertiana |
| Binomial name | |
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Pinus lambertiana Douglas |
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| Natural range of Pinus lambertiana | |
Pinus lambertiana (commonly known as the sugar pine or sugar cone pine) is the tallest and most massive pine tree, and has the longest cones of any conifer. The species name lambertiana was given by the British botanist David Douglas, who named the tree in honour of the English botanist, Aylmer Bourke Lambert. It is native to the mountains of the Pacific coast of North America, from Oregon through California to Baja California.
The sugar pine is the largest species of pine, commonly growing to 40–60 meters (130–195 ft) tall, exceptionally up to 82 m (269 ft) tall, with a trunk diameter of 1.5–2.5 m (4 ft 11 in–8 ft 2 in), exceptionally 3.5 m (11 ft 6 in). Tallest recorded specimen is one standing at 83.45 metres (273 ft 9 in) in Yosemite National Park, discovered in 2015. Second tallest ever recorded was "Yosemite Giant", an 82.05 m (269 ft 2 in) tall specimen in Yosemite National Park, which died from a bark beetle attack in 2007. Tallest known living specimens today grow in southern Oregon and Yosemite National Park; one in Umpqua National Forest is 77.7 m (254 ft 11 in), and another in Siskiyou National Forest is 77.2 m (253 ft 3 in). Yosemite National Park also has the third tallest sugar pine measured to 80.5 m (264 ft 1 in) as of June 2013. The tree was affected by the Rim Fire, but it survived.
Pinus lambertiana is a member of the white pine group, Pinus subgenus Strobus, and like all members of that group, the leaves ('needles') are in bundles (fascicles) of five, with a deciduous sheath. They are 6–11 cm (2 1⁄4–4 1⁄4 in)ch) long. Sugar pine is notable for having the longest cones of any conifer, mostly 25–50 cm (9 3⁄4–19 3⁄4 in) long, exceptionally up to 66 cm (26 in) long (although the cones of the Coulter pine are more massive). The seeds are 10–12 mm (13⁄32–15⁄32 in) long, with a 2–3-centimeter (3⁄4–1 1⁄8-inch) long wing that aids wind dispersal. The seeds of the sugar pine are also a type of pine nut and are edible.
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Wikipedia