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Pinus aristata (Colorado bristlecone pine)

Rocky Mountain bristlecone pine is a denizen of high elevations in the southern Rocky Mountains, ranging from Colorado to New Mexico, with a few disjunct populations in Arizona. The tree appears in rocky soil near treeline, and rarely surpasses 20 feet in height.

The distinctive cones of Pinus aristata are armed with the persistent prickles that give the tree its common name. The needles are bundled in fives and are quite short, measuring about an inch long. The bark is gray and fairly smooth on young trees, becoming shallowly ridged and reddish brown on older trees.

Colorado bristlecone pines can live for literally thousands of years (the oldest recorded tree is about 2500 years old)—but Pinus longaeva, the similar Intermountain bristlecone pine found in the Sierra Nevada (you may have seen famous Ansel Adams photographs of this species), can approach 5000 years of life!

 

Range of Pinus aristata

Pinus aristata
bristlecone pines are scrubby, high-elevation trees found near treeline


Pinus aristata
distinctive, bristly cones

 

Pinus aristata
bushy branches packed with needles

Pinus aristata
needles in bundles of 5, mostly about an inch long


Pinus aristata
bristlecone pines seem to sit on top of the world

 

Pinus aristata
new growth

 

Pinus aristata
bark




Kuo, Michael (May, 2020). Pinus aristata (Colorado bristlecone pine). Retrieved from the MushroomExpert.com website: www.mushroomexpert.com/trees/pinus_aristata.html

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