Pinyon pine

Pinyon Pine

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Pinyon pine

The pinyon (or piñon) pine

Pine

Pines are Pinophyta 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....
group grows in the southwestern United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
and in Mexico
Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federalism constitutionalism 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 Mexico....
. The trees yield edible pinyon nuts

Pine nut

Pine nuts are the edible seeds of pines . About 20 species of pine produce seeds large enough to be worth harvesting; in other pines the seeds are also edible, but are too small to be of value as a human food....
, which were a staple of the Native Americans, and are still widely eaten. The fragrance of the wood, especially when burned, is unmistakable.

There are eight species of true pinyons (Pinus subsection Cembroides):

These additional Mexican species are also related and mostly called pinyons: as are also the three bristlecone pine
Bristlecone pine

The bristlecone pines are a small group of pine trees that are thought to reach an age far greater than that of any other single living organism known, up to nearly 5,000 years....
s of the high mountains of the SW USA, and the Lacebark Pine
Lacebark Pine

Lacebark Pine is a pine tree native to northeastern and central China. It is a slow-growing tree to 15-25 m tall. Its smooth, grey-green bark gradually sheds in round scales to reveal patches of pale yellow, which turn olive-brown, red and purple on exposure to light....
s of Asia.

Some of the species are known to hybridise, most notably P.

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Encyclopedia

The pinyon (or piñon) pine

Pine

Pine nut

Pinus cembroides – Mexican Pinyon
Mexican Pinyon

The Mexican Pinyon is a pine in the pinyon pine group, native to North America. The range extends from westernmost Texas, United States south through much of Mexico, occurring widely along the Sierra Madre Oriental and Sierra Madre Occidental ranges, and more rarely in the eastern Eje Volc?nico Transversal range....
Pinus orizabensis – Orizaba Pinyon
Orizaba Pinyon

The Orizaba Pinyon is a pine in the pinyon pine group, native to Mexico. It is considered also as a sub-species of Pinus cembroides which is classified as Pinus cembroides orizabensis ....
Pinus johannis – Johann's Pinyon
Johann's Pinyon

Johann's Pinyon is a pine in the pinyon pine group, native to North America. The range extends from southeast Arizona and southwest New Mexico, United States, south in Mexico along the Sierra Madre Occidental and the Sierra Madre Oriental to southern Zacatecas and San Luis Potos? ....
or Border Pinyon (includes P. discolor)
Pinus culminicola – Potosi Pinyon
Potosi Pinyon

Potosi Pinyon is a pine in the pinyon pine group, native to northeast Mexico. The range is highly localised, confined to a small area of high summits in the northern Sierra Madre Oriental in Coahuila and Nuevo Le?n, and only abundant on the highest peak, Cerro Potos? ....
Pinus remota – Texas Pinyon
Texas Pinyon

The Texas Pinyon or Papershell Pinyon is a pine in the pinyon pine group, native to North America. The range is in western Texas, United States, on the south edge of the Edwards Plateau and the hills between Fort Stockton, Texas and Presidio, Texas, and in northeastern Mexico, mainly in Coahuila but also just into Chihuahua and Nuevo...
or Papershell Pinyon
Pinus edulis – Colorado Pinyon
Colorado Pinyon

The Colorado Pinyon or Two-needle Pinyon is a pine in the pinyon pine group whose ancestor was a member of the Madro-Tertiary Flora and is native to the United States....
or Two-needle Pinyon
Pinus monophylla – Single-leaf Pinyon
Single-leaf Pinyon

The Single-leaf Pinyon is a pine in the pinyon pine group, native to the United States and northwest Mexico. The range is in southernmost Idaho, western Utah, Arizona, southwest New Mexico, Nevada, eastern and southern California and northern Baja California....
Pinus quadrifolia – Parry Pinyon
Parry Pinyon

The Parry Pinyon is a pine in the pinyon pine group, native to southernmost California in the United States and northern Baja California in Mexico, from 33? 30' N south to 30? 30' N....
(includes P. juarezensis).

These additional Mexican species are also related and mostly called pinyons:

Pinus rzedowskii – Rzedowski's Pine
Pinus pinceana – Weeping Pinyon
Pinus maximartinezii – Big-cone Pinyon
Big-cone Pinyon

Big-cone Pinyon is a pine in the pinyon pine group, native to central Mexico. The range is highly localised, confined to a small area of the southern Sierra Madre Occidental in southern Zacatecas....
Pinus nelsonii – Nelson's Pinyon

as are also the three bristlecone pine
Bristlecone pine

The bristlecone pines are a small group of pine trees that are thought to reach an age far greater than that of any other single living organism known, up to nearly 5,000 years....
s of the high mountains of the SW USA, and the Lacebark Pine
Lacebark Pine

Lacebark Pine is a pine tree native to northeastern and central China. It is a slow-growing tree to 15-25 m tall. Its smooth, grey-green bark gradually sheds in round scales to reveal patches of pale yellow, which turn olive-brown, red and purple on exposure to light....
s of Asia.

Some of the species are known to hybridise, most notably P. quadrifolia with P. monophylla, and P. edulis with P. monophylla.

The Pinyon Jay
Pinyon Jay

The Pinyon Jay is a jay between the North American Blue Jay and the Eurasian Jay in size. It is the only member of the genus Gymnorhinus, ....
(Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus) takes its name from the tree, and pinyon nuts form an important part of its diet. It is very important for regeneration of pinyon woods, as it stores large numbers of the seeds in the ground for later use, and excess seeds not used are in an ideal position to grow into new trees. The Mexican Jay
Mexican Jay

The Mexican Jay, Aphelocoma ultramarina, formerly known as the Gray-breasted Jay, is a New World jay native to the Sierra Madre Oriental, Sierra Madre Occidental, and Cordillera Neovolcanica of Mexico....
is also important for the dispersal of some pinyon species as, less often, is the Clark's Nutcracker
Clark's Nutcracker

The Clark's Nutcracker , is a large passerine bird, in the family Corvidae. It is slightly smaller than its Eurasian relative Spotted Nutcracker ....
. Many other species of animal also eat pinyon nuts, without dispersing them.

External links

Images of the cones of all the pinyons and allied pines

U.S. Forest Service
U.S. Forest Service
U.S. Forest Service
U.S. Forest Service