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Scientific name: Pinus ayacahuite C.G.Ehrenberg ex D.F.L.Schlechtendal 1838
Synonyms: Pinus ayacahuite subsp. neorecurvata Silba, Pinus ayacahuite subsp. oaxacana (Silba) Silba, Pinus ayacahuite var. ayacahuite, Pinus buonapartea Roezl ex Gordon, Pinus colorado Parl., Pinus don-pedrii Roezl, Pinus durangensis Roezl ex Gordon, Pinus hamata Roezl, Pinus loudoniana var. don-pedrii (Roezl) Carrière
Infraspecific taxa: Pinus ayacahuite var. veitchii (Roezl) Shaw
Common names: Mexican white pine, Ayacahuite pine (English), Acalote, Ayacahuite, Ocote gretado, Pinabete, Pino gretado (Spanish)
Tree to 40(-50) m tall, with trunk to 1.5(-2) m in diameter. Bark grayish green and smooth at first, flaking and then ultimately becoming grayish brown and breaking up into small, scaly blocks divided by shallow cracks at the base of large trees. Crown conical at first, broadening and becoming flat-topped and irregular with age, fairly open, even in youth, with widely spaced horizontal to gently drooping branches well clothed with foliage. Twigs light grayish brown, hairless or transiently minutely hairy. Buds 6-12(-15) mm long, slightly resinous or not. Needles in bundles of five (or six), each needle (8-)10-18(-20) cm long, very soft and flexible, straight or slightly drooping, lasting 2-3 years, bluish green to grayish green with wax. Individual needles with lines of stomates only on the inner faces, an undivided midvein, two small resin canals touching the epidermis of the outer face, and sometimes with up to four additional resin canals around the periphery, starting with either of the inner faces near where they come together. Sheath 1.5-2(-3) cm long, soon shed. Pollen cones 7-15 mm long, yellowish brown. Seed cones (10-)25-40(-50) cm long, taperingly cylindrical and nearly straight to obviously curved, with 100-150 seed scales, green before maturity, ripening light brown, opening widely to release the seeds and then falling, on a stout stalk to 2.5 cm long. Seed scales narrowly diamond-shaped, the hidden part thin, the exposed part thicker and triangular to elongated, slightly to sharply and strongly curved back, with a narrow, diamond-shaped umbo at the tip. Seed body 8-15 mm long, with a firmly attached wing 10-30 mm long.
The scientific name is derived from an Aztec name for the tree that honors its stature and habitat, ayauhquahuitl, “cloud tree”. The 16th century monk Bernardino de Sahagún, who described it in his History of the Things of New Spain, wrote (in Aztec) that “it stands towering, highest of all”.
Mountains of southern Mexico and northern Central America, from western Michoacán, southern Hidalgo, and northwestern Veracruz (Mexico) to southern Guatemala, with outliers in northwestern El Salvador and western Honduras. Sometimes in groves but usually mixed with and often towering above other pines and conifers in montane forest on deep moist soils; (1,500-)2,000-3,200(-3,600) m.
Red List Category & Criteria: Least Concern
Whilst undoubtedly exploited for its timber, this species is widespread and common in many mountain forests, although becoming rare in the extreme south of its range. Logging has a negative impact in heavily exploited areas where the number of mature trees is declining. The overall population is decreasing but not to the extent that it falls within any threatened category threshold.
Pinus ayacahuite forms emergent trees in mixed montane conifer forest on mesic sites, or grows in groups or small groves; reaching its greatest extent in Chiapas and W Guatemala. The best stands are on loamy, well drained soils. Its altitudinal range is (1,500-)1,900-3,200(-3,600) m a.s.l. Phenology: the time of pollen dispersal varies with latitude and altitude; in South-Central Mexico it is in May.
Pinus ayacahuite and its variety Pinus ayacahuite var. veitchii are both very important and highly sought after timber trees as they are the tallest growing and most regular shaped representatives of the so-called soft pines in Mexico and Mesoamerica. The wood is used for construction, carpentry, furniture and utilities such as containers, pallets and crates as well as wood pulp. This Mexican pine with its large, pendent cones is uncommon in cultivation and restricted to a few arboreta and private parks or gardens with rare trees. Hybrids have been produced by bringing this species together with its close relatives in the subsection Strobi, e.g. Pinus flexilis, Pinus monticola, Pinus strobus and Pinus wallichiana, the hybrid with the latter is known as Pinus × holfordiana A. B. Jacks. and can also be found planted in some tree collections.
This widespread variety is present in several protected areas.
Pinus ayacahuite ’H.B. Eschrich’ Pinus ayacahuite ’Maya’ Pinus ayacahuite ’WB’
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