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The Torrey pine (Pinus torreyana), also called "Del Mar pine" and "soledad pine," is a broad, open-crowned 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....
 growing to 8-15 m tall, with 20-35 cm long leaves ('needles') in groups of five. The cones are stout and heavy, typically 8-15 cm long and broad, and contain large, hard-shelled, but edible, pine nut
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....
s. The Torrey pine is the rarest pine in the 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...
. The wild population is restricted to about 4000 trees growing in a narrow strip along the California
California

California is a U.S. state on the West Coast of the United States of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. It is bordered by Oregon to the north, Nevada to the east, Arizona to the southeast, and to the south the Mexico state of Baja California....
 coast in San Diego.






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The Torrey pine (Pinus torreyana), also called "Del Mar pine" and "soledad pine," is a broad, open-crowned 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....
 growing to 8-15 m tall, with 20-35 cm long leaves ('needles') in groups of five. The cones are stout and heavy, typically 8-15 cm long and broad, and contain large, hard-shelled, but edible, pine nut
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....
s. The Torrey pine is the rarest pine in the 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...
. The wild population is restricted to about 4000 trees growing in a narrow strip along the California
California

California is a U.S. state on the West Coast of the United States of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. It is bordered by Oregon to the north, Nevada to the east, Arizona to the southeast, and to the south the Mexico state of Baja California....
 coast in San Diego. There is also a population of a variety (Pinus torreyana var. insularis) in a single grove on Santa Rosa Island
Santa Rosa Island, California

Santa Rosa Island is the second largest of the Channel Islands of California at 53,195 acres . Defined by the United States Census Bureau as Block 3009, Block Group 3, census tract 29.10 of Santa Barbara County, California, the United States Census, 2000 showed an official population of 2 persons....
, off the coast of Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, California

Santa Barbara is a city in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the only such section on the west coast, between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the sea, and having a Mediterranean climate, it is called California's "South Coast", and is also sometimes referred to...
. This variety, if considered alone, was one of the rarest pines in the world, at about 100 trees, in the early 20th century. However, the population has grown to about 2000 trees today (the critically endangered
Endangered species

An endangered species is a population of an organism which is at risk of becoming extinct because it is either few in numbers, or threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters....
 Pinus squamata in southwest China
China

China is a Culture of China, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
 is probably the rarest pine today at about 20 trees).

In its native range the Torrey pine grows slowly in dry sandy soil. The root system is extensive. A tiny seedling may send a taproot down 60 cm seeking moisture and nutrients. A mature tree may have roots extending 75 m. Trees in the wild, battered by coastal winds, are often twisted into beautiful shapes resembling bonsai
Bonsai

Bonsai 'Bonsai' is a Japanese pronunciation of the earlier Chinese term penzai . The word bonsai is used in the West as an umbrella term for all miniature trees in containers or pots....
 and rarely exceed 12 m tall. The seeds were an important food for the Kumeyaay
Kumeyaay

The Kumeyaay, also known as the Diegue?o, are Native Americans in the United States people of the extreme southwestern United States and northwest Mexico....
 tribe of Native American
Native Americans in the United States

Native Americans in the United States are the Indigenous peoples of the Americas from the regions of North America now encompassed by the continental United States United States, including parts of Alaska and the island state of Hawaii....
 people.

Endangered in the wild, Torrey pine is planted as an ornamental tree, especially in San Diego County where it is considered a local icon. There, it lends its name to Torrey Pines State Reserve
Torrey Pines State Reserve

Torrey Pines State Reserve is a coastal state park located in the California community of La Jolla, California, off North Torrey Pines Road ....
, Torrey Pines Golf Course
Torrey Pines Golf Course

Torrey Pines Golf Course is a municipal public golf course owned by the city of San Diego, California. It sits on the coastal cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean in the community of La Jolla south of Torrey Pines State Reserve....
, and Torrey Pines High School
Torrey Pines High School

Torrey Pines High School is an high school in the North County Coastal area of San Diego County, California, California. The school is named after the rare Torrey Pine tree that grows in the area....
, as well as roads, businesses, parks, beaches and a gliderport. In cultivation, on richer soils and higher rainfall than the wild trees grow in, it has shown itself capable of fast growth to a large size with tall and straight trees 45 m tall known. It is currently being tested as a plantation
Plantation

A plantation is usually a large farm or Estate , especially in a tropical or semitropical country, like Brazil or Nicaragua on which cotton, tobacco, lice coffee, sugar cane and the like are cultivated, usually by resident laborers....
 tree for forestry
Forestry

Forestry is the art and science of managing forests, tree plantations, and related natural resources. Silviculture, a related science, involves the growing and tending of trees and forests....
 use in Australia
Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the Australia of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous list of islands of Australia in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
, New Zealand
New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses , and numerous Islands of New Zealand, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands....
 and Kenya
Kenya

The Republic of Kenya is a country in East Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia to the north, Somalia to the northeast, Tanzania to the south, Uganda to the west, and Sudan to the northwest, with the Indian Ocean running along the southeast border....
.

See also

  • Salt pruning
    Salt pruning

    Salt pruning is the process by which saline mists generated by seawater are driven ashore by winds to alter the shape of trees or shrubs over considerable times throughout the growth cycle of the affected plant....


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