Name

Pinus lawsonii Roezl ex Gordon, Pinetum Suppl. : 64 (1862).
[Lawson's pine]

Description

Habit: Tree 25-30 m high. Trunk usually straight, columnar, sometimes tortuous. Branches mostly spreading horisontally, becoming ascending in the upper parts. Crown broadly and irregularly domed.

Bark: Thick, rough, scaly and deeply fissured, outer bark black-brown.

Foliage: Needles in fascicles of 3-4 (-5), 12-20 cm long, 1-1.2 mm wide, margins toothed, bluish green, tips prickly.

Branchlets: Shoots smooth, orange-brown.

Winter buds: Ovoid-oblong to cylindrical, terminal bud 10-15 mm long, not resinous.

Cones: Narrowly ovoid, when closed, 5-8 60 cm long, 4-6 cm wide when open. Cone scales thick and woody, oblong, recurved when spread. Umbo pyramidal, curved, without a prickle.

Seeds: 4-5 mm long, obovoid, dark brown, wings 12-16 mm long.

Notes

Used for lumber, but P. lawsonii only does well in countries with a very mild climate.

Natural Distribution

Mexico.