Pinus pungens

Table Mountain Pine

[ click on any image below to see larger version ]

Family: Pinaceae

Mid-Atlantic bloom time: May
Mid-Atlantic fruit ripe: September - October

ID tips:

• needles in bundles of 2 (rarely 3), dark green
• needles stout: 1.3 - 2 mm wide by 3 - 7 cm (1.5 - 3 inches) long
• cones 5 - 9 cm (2 - 3.5 inches) long with distinctive hooked spines

Table Mountain Pine usually grows on dry, rocky slopes and ridges. On slopes it grows straight and reaches 30 - 40 feet in height, but on ridges it is often short and twisted. It was named by botanist Andre Michaux after Table Mountain in North Carolina, where he first found it. The peaks of the Bull Run Mountains in Fauquier and Prince William Counties are the easternmost area where Table Mountain Pine can be found in Virginia.

3 June 2013 Bull Run Mountains Natural Area Preserve, Haymarket, VA (growing on rocky ridge)

30 April 2015 Bull Run Mountains Natural Area Preserve, Haymarket, VA

30 April 2015 Bull Run Mountains Natural Area Preserve, Haymarket, VA (mature trunk bark)

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