Pinus engelmannii, USDA H7-8,
commonly known as the Apache pine, is a tree
of Northern Mexico
, in the Sierra Madre Occidental
with its range extending a short distance into the United States
in southwestern New Mexico
and southeastern Arizona. This pine
is a medium-sized species with a height of 20–30 m (66–98 ft) and a trunk diameter of 35–80 cm (14–31 in).
The branches are sparse and very stout, giving the tree a distinct appearance. The needles, among the longest of any pine, are in bundles of three (occasionally five), 3 0–40 cm (12–16 in) long, stout, and spreading to slightly drooping. The cones are 8–16 cm (3 1
⁄ 4
–6 1
⁄ 4
in) long, green or purple when growing, maturing glossy brown, moderately oblique with stoutly spined scales on the outer side (facing away from the branch). The Apache pine sometimes shows a grass stage like the related Michoacan pine
( P. devoniana
) and also longleaf pine ( P. palustris
).
The English name refers to the species' occurrence in the lands of the ApacheNative Americans
, while the scientific name commemorates the pioneering American botanist George Engelmann
who discovered the species in 1848. Engelmann first named the species Pinus macrophylla
, but this name had already been used for another pine, so it had to be renamed; this was done by the French botanist Carrière, who chose to honour Engelmann.
Apache pine was sometimes treated as a variety of ponderosa pine in the past (as P. ponderosa
var. mayriana
), but it is now universally regarded as a distinct species.
