Introductory
SPECIES: Pinus balfouriana | Foxtail Pine 



ABBREVIATION : 
PINBAL

SYNONYMS : 
NO-ENTRY


SCS PLANT CODE : 
   PIBA
   PIBAA
   PIBAB


COMMON NAMES : 
   foxtail pine


TAXONOMY : 

The currently accepted scientific name of foxtail pine is Pinus
balfouriana Grev. & Balf. [8,13,18].  There are two subspecies [13,18]:

P. b. ssp. austrina R. J. & J. D. Mastrogiuseppe
P. b. ssp. balfouriana Grev. & Balf.

Mastroguiseppe [13] published the name P. b. ssp. austrina for the
southern Sierra Nevada group.  In recognizing the southern Sierra Nevada
populations as a distinct subspecies, the northern Klammath Mountains
populations became P. b. ssp. balfouriana.

In pollination experiments, the two subspecies exhibit almost full
crossability.  Southern Sierra Nevada Onion Valley female cones
pollinated with pollen from the Klammath Mountains (Yolla Bolly) to the
north produced 84 percent as much seed as they did with Onion Valley
pollen.  A crossability of 84 percent is fairly typical for two
subspecies [5,13].  These two disjuncts have probably been separated
since the Pleistocene.  It is interesting that for some characteristics
the southern Sierra Nevada subspecies is more similar to the Great Basin
bristlecone pine (P. longaeva), but it is intermediate between the
northern Klammath Mountains subspecies and Great Basin bristlecone pine
for others [12,13].

Essential oils of wood and foliage support the morphological and
chemical separation of foxtail and bristlecone pines.  However, there
may be a natural hybrid between them in the White Mountains of
California.  Cones from these trees resemble those of the foxtail pine.
If this has occurred, then westerly winds may have carried pollen from
the southern foxtail populations across the Owens Valley to the
bristlecones in the White Mountains.  When this cross was conducted in a
laboratory, fairly high numbers of hybrid seed were produced [5,13,17].


LIFE FORM : 
Tree

FEDERAL LEGAL STATUS : 
No special status

OTHER STATUS : 
NO-ENTRY


COMPILED BY AND DATE : 
Kathy Ahlenslager, October 1986


LAST REVISED BY AND DATE : 
Kathy Ahlenslager, December 1987



AUTHORSHIP AND CITATION : 
Ahlenslager, Kathleen E. 1986. Pinus balfouriana. In: Remainder of Citation

Related categories for Species: Pinus balfouriana | Foxtail Pine