9/13/2023 0 Comments Torrey pines driving range![]() The pine nuts were once eaten by the Kumeyaay tribe of Native American people. Stratification, which is the process of subjecting seeds to (moist) cold, encourages germination in Torrey pine seeds Uses Food The caterpillars of the moth Gloveria arizonensis have been confirmed to feed on this tree in the wild. Scrub jays and perhaps also squirrels are thought to be spreading the species into adjacent parklands from gardens around San Diego. The scrub jay ( Aphelocoma californica) is the most important species when it comes to dispersal of the seeds (on the mainland). Like most pine tree species, the seeds have a wing attached to them, but in this species it is papery, breaks off easily, and is entirely non-functional, so this tree is entirely reliant upon animals to disperse its seeds. The seeds are eaten by birds and rodents. Exposed trees battered by coastal winds are often twisted into beautiful sculptural shapes resembling large bonsai, and rarely exceed 12 m (39 ft) tall. A mature tree may have roots extending 75 meters (246 ft). A tiny seedling may quickly send a taproot down 60 centimeters (24 in) seeking moisture and nutrients. The native habitat of Pinus torreyana is coastal sage scrub, a plant community, growing slowly in dry, sandy soil. Coastal fog during spring and summer along the San Diego and Santa Rosa Island coast provides just enough moisture to supplement the fairly low winter rainfall, allowing for survival of the species in the wild habitat zone. The presence of Torrey pines along the semi-arid coast of San Diego and Santa Rosa Island (rainfall less than 15 inches per year) is probably a relict population of a much more extensive Ice Age distribution. insularis in two groves on Santa Rosa Island, a California Channel Island off the coast of Santa Barbara. There is also a population of the variety Pinus torreyana var. The extant population of Pinus torreyana is restricted to trees growing in a narrow strip along the Southern California coast in San Diego. Considered a Critically Imperiled Subspecies by NatureServe. The seed is larger than 11mm wide, medium brown to more-or-less black. The sharp tips at the end of the scales are generally larger than 6 mm (0.24 in) in length. The cones are generally larger than 13.5 cm (5.3 in) in width. The seed is generally less than 11 mm (0.43 in) wide, and light to dark brown in color. ![]() The sharp tips at the end of the scales are generally less than 6 mm (0.24 in) in length. The cones are generally smaller than 13.5 cm (5.3 in) in width. The leaf color is said to be generally gray-yellow-green. There is much space between the branches. These are said to be distinguished by the following characteristics, as well as possibly differing in the terpenoid (beta- phellandrene, limonene, cineole, etc.) profile. Torrey pines are sometimes afflicted with witch's broom (or "gorilla's nest"), an unusually dense cluster of needles that looks somewhat like a bird's nest, caused by disease or other causes. Like all pines, it has strobili, structures that function as a flower but look like a small cone, which for the Torrey pine look like a yellow bud in a male strobilus and like a small red cone in a female. Like all pines, its needles are clustered into ' fascicles' that have a particular number of needles for each pine species in the Torrey pine there are five needles in each fascicle. The cones are stout and heavy, typically 8–15 cm (3.1–5.9 in) long and broad, and contain large, hard-shelled, but edible, pine nuts. Pinus torreyana is a broad, open-crowned pine tree growing to 8–17 meters (26–56 ft) tall in the wild, with 25–30 centimeters (9.8–11.8 in) long leaves ('needles') in groups of five. The species epithet torreyana is named for John Torrey, an American botanist, after whom the coniferous genus Torreya is also named. The Torrey pine is endemic to the California coastal sage and chaparral ecoregion. It is a critically endangered species growing only in coastal San Diego County, and on Santa Rosa Island, offshore from Santa Barbara in Santa Barbara County. The Torrey pine ( Pinus torreyana) is a rare pine species in California, United States.
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