Chihuahua pine

Description

Pinus leiophylla, commonly known as Chihuahua pine, smooth-leaf pine, and yellow pine (in Mexico, tlacocote and ocote chino), is a tree with a range primarily in Mexico, with a small extension into the United States in southeast Arizona and southwest New Mexico. The Mexican range extends along the Sierra Madre Occidental and Sierra Madre del Sur from Chihuahua to Oaxaca, from 29° North Lat. to 17°, between 1600 and 3000 meters altitude. It requires about a rainfall 600 to 1000 mm a year, mostly in summer. It tolerates frosts in winter.This member of family Pinaceae grows to the height of 20–30 m (66–98 ft) with a trunk diameter of 35–80 cm (14–31 in). The needles are in bundles of three to five, 5–10 cm (2–4 in) long, or rarely to 15 cm or 6 in, and are a bright glossy green to yellowish-green. The cones are ovoid, 4–7 cm (1+1⁄2–2+3⁄4 in) long, or rarely to 8 cm or 3+1⁄4 in, and borne on a 1–2 cm (1⁄2–3⁄4 in) long stalk; they are unusual in taking about 30–32 months to mature, a year longer than most other pines. The bark is gray-brownish, and fissured.