Pinus torreyana var. torreyana

Common names

Mainland Torrey pine (Kral 1993).

Taxonomic notes

Syn. Pinus lophosperma Lindl. 1860 (Farjon 1998).

Description

"Trees to 15 m in native stands (to 23 m in sheltered sites); mature crown of sheltered trees narrower than tree height, fairly open in natural sites. Seed cones mostly broadly ovoid, as broad as long or longer, mostly less than 13.5 cm; umbos mostly shorter than 6mm, terminal portion curved outward. Seeds to 12 mm wide, averaging less than 11 mm, light to medium brown with dark mottling. 2n=24" (Kral 1993).

Distribution and Ecology

USA: California: occurs naturally only in a relict stand near the coast at Del Mar in San Diego County (elevation 0-125 m). Habitat dry fogbelt zone on eroding, mostly dry slopes. Species is rare and so, of conservation concern (Kral 1993). The total population was 3,401 mature trees in 1973, with a total of about 7,000 inclusive of seedlings and saplings (Ledig and Conkle 1983).

Remarkable Specimens

All the biggest trees are in cultivation. Examples include: Height 40.5 m and dbh 129 cm, in Sacramento, California (R. Van Pelt e-mail 1998.03.18), and two others at Capitol Park in Sacramento, measured in 2007 at 40.2 m tall and 122 cm dbh (132 feet tall and 151 inch girth), and at 37.2 m tall and 136 cm dbh (122 feet tall and 168.5 inch girth) (A.L. Jacobson email 2007.08.24). The tallest known tree is near the Redwood Memorial Park in Rotorua, New Zealand: it was 43.0 m tall in 2009.03 (R. Van Pelt email 2009.04.14).

I have data on only one particularly large tree in habitat, found at Torrey Pines State Reserve in La Jolla, California. It was 121 cm dbh and 25.2 m tall when measured in 2019 (Monumental Trees 2024).

Ethnobotany

Observations

The bulk of its surviving native habitat is contained in the Torrey Pines State Reserve in San Diego, CA. The Reserve is for day use only and provides access to the tree both by road and by a series of short trails. A smaller habitat fragment, containing some remarkably large trees, can be seen at the Quail Botanical Gardens in nearby Encinitas.

Remarks

Citations

Ledig, F.T. and M.T. Conkle. 1983. Gene diversity and genetic structure in a narrow endemic, Torrey pine. Evolution 37: 79-85.

Monumental Trees. 2024. Torrey Pine in Torrey Pines State Reserve in La Jolla, California, United States. https://www.monumentaltrees.com/en/usa/california/sandiegocounty/22938_torreypinesstatereserve/, accessed 2024.06.11.

See also

The species account at Threatened Conifers of the World.