Table Mountain pine, Pinus pungens, also called hickory pine, prickly pine, is a small pine native to the Appalachian Mountains in the United States.

Description

Pinus pungens is a tree of modest size (), and has a rounded, irregular shape. The needles are in bundles of two, occasionally three, yellow-green to mid green, fairly stout, and long. The pollen is released early compared to other pines in the area which minimizes hybridization. The cones are very short-stalked (almost sessile), ovoid, pale pinkish to yellowish buff, and long; each scale bears a stout, sharp spine long. Sapling trees can bear cones in as little as 5 years.

thumb|Male cones (pollen cones)

Buds ovoid to cylindric, red-brown, , resinous.

Morphology

Pinus pungens is a native, slow-growing conifer. It is often small in stature and exceedingly limby. It rarely grows beyond 66 feet (20 m) tall, though the tallest individual recorded was 95 feet (29 m). Pinus pungens is typically around diameter at breast height (DBH). The maximum recorded DBH was . Table Mountain pine typically has long, thick limbs on much of the trunk even in closed canopy stands. There are outlying populations of Pinus pungens to the east of the Appalachians in the piedmont often on isolated peaks and monadnocks

Habitat

Pinus pungens prefers dry conditions and is mostly found on rocky slopes and peaks, favoring higher elevations averaging of ~300-1700 meters. The three tallest known Pinus pungens are in Paris Mountain State Park, South Carolina; they are tall. Lack of Pinus pungens and increasing dominance of trees belonging to the Fagaceae (Oaks & Beeches) appear to coincide with fire exclusion practices initiated after 1950 resulting in a lack of regeneration. Fire occurs infrequently on contemporary Appalachian landscapes where Pinus pungens is common.

Current age structure of Pinus pungens suggest fire is an important influence on stand structure and regeneration as it regulates and clears the land periodically. Large gaps in year tree classes are the result of fire suppression.

Conservation status

Pinus pungens is considered secure in Virginia and apparently secure in North Carolina, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. Its considered Vulnerable in Georgia, Critically Imperiled in New Jersey, and Exotic in Illinois.

References

  • Farjon, A. & Frankis, M. P. (2002). Pinus pungens. Curtis's Botanical Magazine 19: 97–103.
  • Flora of North America: Pinus pungens info and P. pungens Range Map
  • Pinus pungens images at bioimages.vanderbilt.edu