Pinus cembra

Linnaeus 1753, p. 1000

Common names

Arolla, Swiss, or Swiss stone pine; pin cembro [French]; Zirbelkiefer [German].

Taxonomic notes

Synonymy:

• Apinus cembra (L.) Neck.
• Pinea cembra (L.) Opiz
• Pinus cembra subsp. communis Endl.
• Pinus cembra var. helvetica Lodd. ex Loudon
• Pinus montana Lam.
• Pinus montana Salisb.
• Strobus cembra (L.) Moldenke

This is a white pine (subgenus Strobus), closely related to P. sibirica. Some authors combine the two as P. cembra s.l. It was one of the five pines described by Linnaeus in his Species Plantarum; the others were P. pinea, P. strobus, P. sylvestris, and P. taeda; he also identified 5 other pines, since segregated to other genera.

Description

Evergreen trees to 25(-35) m tall and 150 cm dbh. Crown narrow-pyramidal in youth, with age developing an open, flattened crown; at timberline, may form krummholz. Bark grey-brown, darkening and becoming scaly, fissured with age. Shoots in first year covered with dense orange pubescence, in the second year turning brown to brown-black but remaining pubescent (unlike shoots of the similar species Pinus flexilis). Leaves in fascicles of 5, stiff, dark green, 5-9 cm long, facicle sheaths early deciduous. Foliar buds gray-brown, ovate, acute, 6-13 mm long, resinous. Pollen cones cylindrical, terminal, purple. Seed cones maturing in third year, terminal, ovoid, 4-8 cm long, on short peduncles, green-purple in first year, turning brown as they mature (by Michael Frankis). See García Esteban et al. (2004) for a detailed characterization of the wood anatomy.

The very similar species P. sibirica differs in having leaves with 3, rather than 2 resin canals, and slightly larger cones.

Distribution and Ecology

Europe: Austria, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Romania, Switzerland, Ukraine (Conifer Specialist Group 1998). Grows only in the subalpine zone, at elevations of (1,200-)1,500-2,200(-2,300) m in the Alps and portions of the Carpathian Mountains, forming mixed and pure stands (Ulber et al. 2004). "Owing to its slow growth, P. cembra is a weak competitor compared with other trees. However, it is better adapted to the harsh upper subalpine climate conditions than any other European tree species. Consequently, it can compete in mixed stands where the performance of the other subalpine trees (mainly Picea abies and Larix decidua) is reduced and establish pure stands above their growth limit" (Ulber et al. 2004). It is also commonly found with Pinus mugo.

Hardy to Zone 1 (cold hardiness limit below -45.6°C) (Bannister and Neuner 2001, variety not specified), which makes it one of the most cold-hardy trees known.

Remarkable Specimens

Maximum ages of 500 to 1000 years are reported, without supporting data (Ulber et al. 2004).

Ethnobotany

This pine is loved by both humans and wildlife for its seeds, which are easily extracted from the cone, highly nutritious, and very tasty.

The species has been extensively used in dendrochronological research. Examples include reconstruction of past timberlines, investigation of carbon dioxide fertilization effects, and an array of dendroclimatic, and dendroecological studies. This is the principal species in "an absolutely dated tree-ring width chronology covering continuously 9111 years (7109 BC to AD 2002). It is the longest high mountain chronology in the world to date. The chronology is based on samples of the species Pinus cembra L., Larix decidua Mill. and Picea abies [L.] Karst., respectively, from high elevation sites in the European Alps" (Nicolussi et al. 2009).

Observations

Remarks

The epithet is derived from "cembro", a common name used in Italy.

The seeds are a principal food source for the nutcracker, Nucifraga caryocatactes, which in turn is the principal agent for dispersal of the pine's seeds. This mutualistic relationship between pines and nutcrackers is found in a variety of arctic and alpine pine species, as detailed by Lanner (1996).

Citations

Conifer Specialist Group. 1998. Pinus cembra. In: IUCN 2008. 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. https://www.iucnredlist.org/details/42349, accessed 2009.01.23, now defunct.

Nicolussi, K., M. Kaufmann, Thomas M. Melvin, J. van der Plicht, P. Schieling, and A. Thurner. 2009. A 9111 year long conifer tree-ring chronology for the European Alps: a base for environmental and climatic investigations. The Holocene 19(6):909-920. www.uibk.ac.at/geographie/forschung/dendro/publikationen---pdf-files/2009-nic-et-al-holocene-chrono.pdf, accessed 2010.10.15.

Ulber, M., F. Gugerli and G. Bozic. 2004. EUFORGEN Technical Guidelines for genetic conservation and use for Swiss stone pine (Pinus cembra). International Plant Genetic Resources Institute, Rome, Italy. 6 pages. Available: http://www.bioversityinternational.org/publications/pubfile.asp?ID_PUB=928, accessed 2009.01.23 (now defunct). Highly informative.

See also

Elwes and Henry 1906-1913 at the Biodiversity Heritage Library. This series of volumes, privately printed, provides some of the most engaging descriptions of conifers ever published. Although they only treat species cultivated in the U.K. and Ireland, and the taxonomy is a bit dated, still these accounts are thorough, treating such topics as species description, range, varieties, exceptionally old or tall specimens, remarkable trees, and cultivation. Despite being over a century old, they are generally accurate, and are illustrated with some remarkable photographs and lithographs.

Gugerli, F., M. Anzidei, A. Madaghiele, U. Büchler, C. Sperisen, J. Senn and G.G. Vendramin. 2001. Chloroplast microsatellites and mitochondrial nad1 intron 2 sequences indicate phylogeographic relationship of Swiss stone pine (Pinus cembra), Siberian stone pine (P. sibirica), and Siberian dwarf pine (P. pumila). Molecular Ecology 10:1489-1497.

Photographs and species account at Botany.cz, accessed 2009.05.02.