Bishop Pine
Encyclopedia
The Bishop Pine, Pinus muricata, is a pine
Pine
Pines are trees in the genus Pinus ,in the family Pinaceae. They make up the monotypic subfamily Pinoideae. There are about 115 species of pine, although different authorities accept between 105 and 125 species.-Etymology:...

 with a very restricted range: mostly in the U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

 of California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

, including several offshore Channel Islands
Channel Islands of California
The Channel Islands of California are a chain of eight islands located in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Southern California along the Santa Barbara Channel in the United States of America...

, and a few locations in Baja California
Baja California
Baja California officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is both the northernmost and westernmost state of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1953, the area was known as the North...

, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

. It is always on or near the coast, from Trinidad Head
Trinidad, California
Trinidad is a seaside city in Humboldt County, located on the Pacific Ocean north of the Arcata-Eureka Airport and north of the college town of Arcata...

 in Humboldt County, California
Humboldt County, California
Humboldt County is a county in the U.S. state of California, located on the far North Coast 200 miles north of San Francisco. According to 2010 Census Data, the county’s population was 134,623...

 south to San Vicente
Misión San Vicente Ferrer
Mission San Vicente was founded in August 1780 by the Dominican missionaries Miguel Hidalgo and Joaquin Valero among the Paipai Indians of northwestern Baja California, Mexico....

 in Baja California.

In San Luis Obispo County it is found alone or in stands scattered on the coastal mountains and hills from Morro Bay to Shell Beach
Shell Beach
Shell Beach may refer to:* A shell beach is a term for a beach that routinely has numerous seashells washed up* Several real places that feature a shell beach:** Shell Beach, California** Shell Beach, Guyana** Shell Beach, Louisiana...

. A few stands of the tree are seen on the hills above the Sycamore Canyon Resort in Avila Beach
Avila Beach
Avila Beach , pronounced AH-vuh-luh or spanish pronunciation as AH-vee-lah, is a census-designated place in San Luis Obispo County, California, USA and located about 160 miles northwest of Los Angeles, and about 200 miles south of San Francisco. The ZIP Code is 93424. The community is inside area...

. Within the City of San Luis Obispo, the Terrace Hill Open Space has several scattered specimens. Bishop Pine seems to prefer already disturbed, unvegetated areas where it probably faces less competition from oaks and shrubs.

The common name Bishop Pine resulted from the tree having been first identified near the Mission of San Luis Obispo
Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa
Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa was founded 1772 on the Central Coast of California on a site located halfway between Santa Barbara and Monterey. It was named after Saint Louis of Anjou, the bishop of Toulouse. The Mission church of San Luis Obispo is unusual in its design in that its...

 in San Luis Obispo, CA. This tree has a large number of common names and other prior scientific names, due primarily to numerous variant forms. Other English names that have occasionally been used are: Prickle Cone Pine, Obispo Pine, Santa Cruz Pine and Dwarf Marine Pine.

Description

The mature Pinus muricata tree
Tree
A tree is a perennial woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance. A minimum height specification at maturity is cited by some authors, varying from 3 m to...

s grow to a height of 15–25 m, rarely up to 34 m, with a trunk diameter of up to 1.2 m. The species is often smaller, stunted and twisted in coastal exposures. It is drought-tolerant and grows on dry, rocky soil.

The needles are in pairs, green to blue-green, and 8–16 cm (3-6 Inches)long. Cone
Conifer cone
A cone is an organ on plants in the division Pinophyta that contains the reproductive structures. The familiar woody cone is the female cone, which produces seeds. The male cones, which produce pollen, are usually herbaceous and much less conspicuous even at full maturity...

s occur in one to five clusters. The cones are strongly reflexed down the branch, 5–10 cm long; the scales are stiff, thin on the side of the cone facing the stem, but greatly thickened on the side facing away and with a stout 5–12 mm spine; both features adaptive to minimise squirrel
Squirrel
Squirrels belong to a large family of small or medium-sized rodents called the Sciuridae. The family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels, chipmunks, marmots , flying squirrels, and prairie dogs. Squirrels are indigenous to the Americas, Eurasia, and Africa and have been introduced to Australia...

 predation and fire damage to the cones. The cones remain unopened for many years until fire or strong heat causes them to open and release the seeds.

Forms

There are two Pinus muricata forms:
  • a southern form with bright green needles
  • a northern form with dark blue-green needles.

The resin
Resin
Resin in the most specific use of the term is a hydrocarbon secretion of many plants, particularly coniferous trees. Resins are valued for their chemical properties and associated uses, such as the production of varnishes, adhesives, and food glazing agents; as an important source of raw materials...

 composition also differs. The dividing line between the two is very sharp, five miles (8 km) south of the boundary between Mendocino County
Mendocino County, California
Mendocino County is a county located on the north coast of the U.S. state of California, north of the greater San Francisco Bay Area and west of the Central Valley. As of the 2010 census, the population was 87,841, up from 86,265 at the 2000 census...

 and Sonoma County
Sonoma County, California
Sonoma County, located on the northern coast of the U.S. state of California, is the largest and northernmost of the nine San Francisco Bay Area counties. Its population at the 2010 census was 483,878. Its largest city and county seat is Santa Rosa....

 in California. Experimental attempts to hybridize the two forms have consistently failed, indicating that their taxonomic relationship may be more distant than the very small differences in appearance would suggest.

Ecology

Pinus muricata, Bishop Pine, is found with several oak and cypress associates within the California Coast Ranges. There are also a number of common understory
Understory
Understory is the term for the area of a forest which grows at the lowest height level below the forest canopy. Plants in the understory consist of a mixture of seedlings and saplings of canopy trees together with understory shrubs and herbs...

 flora associates including Sword Fern
Polystichum munitum
Polystichum munitum is an evergreen fern native to western North America, where it is one of the most abundant ferns occurring along the Pacific coast from southeast Alaska south to southern California, and also inland east to southeastern British Columbia, northern Idaho and western Montana, with...

, salal
Salal
Gaultheria shallon is a leathery-leaved shrub in the heather family , native to western North America. In English it is known as salal, shallon, or in Britain simply Gaultheria.-Ecology:...

 and Western Poison Oak. Notable occurrences of Bishop Pine is in association with Mendocino Cypress as a pygmy forest
Pygmy forest
A pygmy forest is a forest which, for pedological and geological reasons, contains only miniature trees. Pygmy forests may occur over various world locations with notable occurrences being noted in the literature of the: California coastal terraces and inner coastal mountains of Northern...

 on coastal terraces in Mendocino County and Sonoma County, including one location within Salt Point State Park
Salt Point State Park
Salt Point State Park is a state park located at in Sonoma County, California, United States. The park covers on the coast of Northern California with of hiking trails and over six miles of a rough rocky coast line including Salt Point which protrudes into the Pacific Ocean. The park also...

. Bishop Pine is classified an endangered species
Endangered species
An endangered species is a population of organisms which is at risk of becoming extinct because it is either few in numbers, or threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters...

 in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

.

Uses

Pinus muricata has been used in plantation
Plantation
A plantation is a long artificially established forest, farm or estate, where crops are grown for sale, often in distant markets rather than for local on-site consumption...

s with resultant growth rates higher than in the wild, but with adverse impacts to biodiversity
Biodiversity
Biodiversity is the degree of variation of life forms within a given ecosystem, biome, or an entire planet. Biodiversity is a measure of the health of ecosystems. Biodiversity is in part a function of climate. In terrestrial habitats, tropical regions are typically rich whereas polar regions...

.
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