Pinus greggii, Gregg's pine, USDA H8-hardy, taller may be available too
Common names:
Gregg's pine, Gregg pine
Description
Tree to 25 m tall, with trunk to 0.8 m in diameter. Bark grayish brown, long remaining smooth, becoming thick at the base of large trees and broadly ridged between deep furrows. Crown dome-shaped to cylindrical, open, with numerous horizontal branches well clothed with foliage. Twigs reddish brown to grayish brown, hairless, smooth, with shallow grooves between the bases of the scale leaves. Buds 8-15 mm long, not conspicuously resinous. Needles in bundles of three, each needle (7-)10-15 cm long, stiff and straight, lasting 3-4 years, shiny light green. Individual needles with several lines of stomates on all three faces, and two to four (to six) resin canals at the corners surrounding the two-stranded midvein midway to the needle surface. Sheath 8-10 mm long, weathering to (3-)5-8 mm or occasionally shed entirely, but usually persisting and falling with the bundle. Pollen cones 15-20 mm, yellowish brown. Seed cones in circles of three to six (to eight) around the twig, (6-)10-13(-15) cm long, egg-shaped to oblong, asymmetrical, especially at the base, with 60-120 seed scales, green before maturity, ripening shiny yellowish brown, remaining closed and attached to the branch by a very short, stout stalk for many years and gradually opening and releasing the seeds over time, beginning at the middle and often leaving the bottom scales closed like a handle. Seed scales broadly wedge-shaped, the exposed face diamond-shaped and flat with a small, flat umbo bearing a tiny, fragile prickle. Seed body 5-8 mm long, the clasping wing another 14-18(-20) mm longer.
Sierra Madre Oriental of Mexico, from southeastern Coahuila and central Nuevo León to northern Puebla. Mixed with other trees in varied forest types; 1,300-2,700(-3,000) m.
Conservation Status
Conservation status- Red list- Vulnerable. (Pinus greggii's extent of occurrence is beyond the thresholds for a threatened category. The area of occupancy is more than 500 km2, but less than 2,000 km2. There are a total of eight locations and the population is severely fragmented. A substantial decline has occurred, and is continuing to occur, in the southern subpopulation (Pinus greggii var. australis) which represents the majority of the total population. There is a lesser ongoing decline in the northern subpopulation (Pinus greggii var. greggii). Consequently the species is assessed as Vulnerable
