BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Pinus pungens | Table Mountain Pine 



GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS : 
Table Mountain pine is a small, native, evergreen conifer with large
branches.  Individuals often have a gnarly appearance with crooked,
irregular trunks and flat tops [2,22].  Mature trees range in height
from 30 to 60 feet (9-18 m) and reach a maximum age of 250 years [9,22].
Trees in Great Smoky Mountains National Park are smaller and range in
height from 26 to 39 feet (8-12 m) [2].  Serotinous cones are heavily
armored with stout, hooked spines [2,13].


RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM : 
   Phanerophyte


REGENERATION PROCESSES : 
Table Mountain pine is monoecious.  The minimum seed-bearing age is 5
years [2,9].

Seed production and dissemination:  Cones average 2.8 inches (7 cm) in
length, and vary from highly serotinous to nonserotinous.  Cone size and
degree of serotiny decrease with increasing elevation [2,5,9,22].
Generally, less than 40 percent of 2-year-old cones open in the absence
of fire.  Older cones may open without fire if they are exposed to
temperatures of 60 to 90 degrees Fahrenheit (16-32 deg C) for at least
30 days [2,5].  Without fire, serotinous cones may open in 8 to 10 years
in closed-canopy stands, and sooner in open-canopy stands [22].
Serotinous cones up to 10 years old have a high percentage of viable
seeds, and cones over 25 years old still contain some viable seeds [5].
The seeds are equipped with wings and are dispersed short distances by
wind.  A large number of seeds are dispersed annually [2].

Seedling development:  Seedling establishment is severely limited by the
availability of suitable seedling habitat.  Germination is epigeal and
requires exposed soil [2].  Thick litter or heath impedes germination.
Thin pine litter decreases soil moisture loss and can aid seedling
establishment during summer droughts which cause significant seedling
mortality.  Thin oak litter, however, serves as a mechanical barrier and
limits regeneration [20].

Seedlings are able to grow a long root and stem.  The taproot is
generally anchored to a rock crevice while lateral roots spread through
the thin soil.  Despite harsh conditions, Table Mountain pine seedling
growth is not constrained as much as other species in this environment.
Much of the growth goes into branch production rather than into height
or diameter growth [2,22].

Vegetative reproduction:  Seedlings usually have a basal stem crook at
ground level.  After a fire, basal buds protected against the mineral
soil by the crook can sprout [2].


SITE CHARACTERISTICS : 
Table Mountain pine grows on xeric sites in rocky and shaly mountainous
areas of the Appalachians [2,11].  Table Mountain pine prefers the
southern and southwestern aspect of steep, exposed ridges [2,11,15,22].
Because Table Mountain pine is susceptible to frost, the species'
distribution is limited by low temperatures [22].  The common
elevational range is 1,000 to 4,000 feet (305-1,220 m), but individuals
have been found as high as 5,780 feet (1,762 m) and as low as 150 feet
(46 m) [2].  Table Mountain pine often occurs in isolated pockets [5].

Table Mountain pine grows where there is minimal soil development.  The
soil is shallow, stony, acidic, excessively drained, and infertile
[2,7,15,22].  This species occurs in areas least favorable for rapid
plant growth.  A individual may even occupy a crack in bedrock.
Excessive moisture does not hinder Table Mountain pine growth, but
competition with other species does [22].

In addition to those species mentioned in SAF Cover Types, overstory
associates in Table Mountain pine and Table Mountain pine-pitch pine
stands include red maple (Acer rubrum), blackgum (Nyssa sylvatica),
sourwood (Oxydendrum arboreum), American chestnut (Castanea dentata),
and black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia).  Other overstory associates
include eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis), oak (Quercus spp.)  and
hickory (Carya spp.) [2,17].

Common understory associates include rhododendron (Rhododendrum spp),
blueberry (Vaccinium spp.), black huckleberry (Gaylussacia bacata), bear
huckleberry (Gaylussacia ursina), mountain winterberry (Ilex montana),
hobblebush (Viburnum alnifolium), mapleleaf viburnum (V. acerfolium),
greenbrier (Smilax glauca and S. rotundifolia), fetterbush (Pieris
floribunda), white-alder (Clethra acuminata), and mountain laurel
(Kalmia latifolia).  Bear oak (Quercus ilicifolia) is common at high
elevations and in the northern range of Table Mountain pine
[2,15,17,22].


SUCCESSIONAL STATUS : 
Table Mountain pine is intolerant of shade and competition.  It occurs
mainly in short-lived, even-aged stands that regenerate after fire.  In
the absence of fire, Table Mountain pine is replaced by mixed oak or oak
dominated forests on sites suitable for hardwoods.  Chestnut oak-scarlet
oak climax forest supplants Table Mountain pine on dry sites in the
southern Appalachian Mountains [2,6,18,19,22].

Whittaker [17] classified populations of Table Mountain pine on dry,
steep, rocky sites unsuitable for other competitors as edaphic climaxes.
Barden [1] found a population at Looking Glass Rock, a monadnock in
North Carolina, that had reproduced successfully without fire for almost
100 years.


SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT : 
At low elevations, Table Mountain pine flowers in mid-March and begins
shedding pollen the last week in March.  At high elevations, it flowers
in early April and begins shedding pollen by the second week.  Cones
ripen in August of the second growing season, and generally seeds are
dispersed in the fall if cones open without fire [2,9].  Table Mountain
pine sheds pollen earlier than other pine species in the region, and it
also has the earliest growth of new needles [22].

Related categories for Species: Pinus pungens | Table Mountain Pine