Link to image and information on the type specimen.
A tree at Monte Alban [C.J. Earle, 2005年02月07日].
Same tree, foliar units [C.J. Earle, 2005年02月07日].
Same tree, a single fascicle, about 30 cm long [C.J. Earle, 2005年02月07日].
Same tree, 90 cm DBH, bark [C.J. Earle, 2005年02月07日].
Same tree, cones in situ [C.J. Earle, 2005年02月07日].
050208-24 Forest of P. oaxacana and P. lawsonii along Mex-175 N of the city of Oaxaca [C.J. Earle, 2005年02月08日].
Seedlings in the "grass" stage [C.J. Earle, 2005年02月08日].
Cone collected along Mex-175 N of the city of Oaxaca [C.J. Earle, 2005年02月10日].
Detail showing thick, elongated apophysis on the cone shown above [C.J. Earle, 2005年02月10日].
Conservation Status
Pinus oaxacana
Mirov (1958)
Pino de Oaxaca, Oaxaca pine.
Type: Mexico, Oaxaca, near La Parada, altitude 7,500–9,000 feet (2300–2750 m), August 18, 1894, E.W. Nelson 985 (US 398558); see photo at right. Synonyms:
This species has a fairly complex history, and was often regarded as a variety of P. pseudostrobus until phylogenetic work established a division within the Pinus pseudostrobus complex such that P. pseudostrobus is sister to P. hartwegii and P. montezumae, while P. oaxacana is sister to P. apulcensis (Gernandt et al. 2025). For a more detailed discussion see Phylogenomics restructure the Pinus pseudostrobus complex.
Tree 20–40 m tall and up to 100 cm dbh, typically with a single straight trunk and rounded crown of horizontally spreading branches. Bark light brown and smooth, with age becoming thick, deeply fissured, grayish brown. Twigs smooth, slender, flexible, slightly ascending, initially reddish or yellowish brown with a glaucous tinge, later greenish brown and then light brown. Leaves in fascicles of 5 (rarely 6), 20–33 cm long, serrulate, very slender, flexible, drooping but not pendant, light green with a yellowish tinge, dorsal stomata mostly in 5–7 rows and ventral stomata in 3–5 rows on each side; in section there are usually 3 medial resin canals, 2 contiguous but distinct vascular bundles, hypodermis with 2–4 layers of cells, endodermis with thick outer cell walls. Sheath light brown, 18–28 mm long, persistent. Buds short, cylindrical-conical, brown. Pollen cones about 30 mm, scaly and brown, but later shorten to almost half their length, become ringed at the top, and take on a grayish color. Seed cones in first year subterminal, in groups of (1–)2(–4), subglobular to attenuate at both ends, bluish, somewhat reddish, with thick, keeled scales bearing a prickle pointing toward the apex. Mature seed cones subsessile with a very short (5–10 mm) penduncle that remains on the branch with a few seed scales when the cone falls. The cone is 10–16 cm long, ovoid or conic, acute, slightly asymmetrical or oblique, opening at maturity, falling usually a few months after seed dispersal. Scales thick, stiff, hard, 12–20 mm wide, with a very conspicuous apophysis. Apophyses 12–20 mm wide and 8–12 mm high, rhomboidal, thick, keeled, bearing projections that prominent, elongate, unequal (those on abaxial side of cone longer), 5–22 mm long, 5–12 mm wide at base, 3–8 mm thick at base, pyramidal to conic, hard, flattened, straight or curved and reflexed, the umbo on outer part of each projection ending in a short point. Seed 6–7 mm long, obovoid, dark brown, with detachable brown wing 20–25 mm long and 8–9 mm wide. Sapwood cream-colored to yellowish white; heartwood pale brown and moderately resinous (Martinez 1945, Mirov 1958, Perry 1991). See García Esteban et al. (2004) for a detailed characterization of the wood anatomy (as P. pseudostrobus var. apulcensis).
P. oaxacana is very similar to other, closely-related species, particularly P. apulcensis and P. pseudostrobus . This table provides a comparison between these species. Table 1 in Escobar-Alonso et al. (2023) may also be helpful; it indicates that the taxa can be reliably distinguished according to traits visible in the mature seed cone.
El Salvador; Guatemala; Honduras; Mexico: Chiapas, Guerrero, México, Oaxaca, Puebla, Tlaxcala, and Veracruz. Grows at elevations of 1500–3200 m, with rainfall averaging 1500 mm, and grows best on deep silicic sandy-gravelly soils. Commonly in mixed pine forest with species such as P. maximinoi, P. hartwegii, P. pseudostrobus, P. patula, P. gordoniana, and at high elevations P. ayacahuite. (Perry 1991). Hardy to Zone 9 (cold hardiness limit between –6.6°C and –1.1°C) (Bannister and Neuner 2001).
No data as of 2025年10月17日.
Logged primarily for local use, primarily in construction (Perry 1991).
As the photographs show, there are splendid specimens at the ruins of Monte Alban above the city of Oaxaca. We also found it widely distributed along Mex–175 starting about 20 km N of the city of Oaxaca and continuing sporadically at least to the town of Ixtlan de Juarez. In this area it forms continuous, closed-canopy forests with a variety of pines, prominently including P. lawsoni and P. montezumae . More locales are described in detail by Perry (1991).
In El Salvador, it occurs on Cerro el Pita at 1500–2500 m elevation, mixed with Pinus tecunumanii (Fernando Tobar email 2008年11月12日).
In Oaxaca and Chiapas, this species is a principal host for the dwarf mistletoes Arceuthobium aureum subsp. petersonii and A. nigrum (Hawksworth and Wiens 1996).
Escobar-Alonso, S., J. J. Vargas-Hernández, J. López-Upton, S. Escobar-Alonso, J. J. Vargas-Hernández, and J. López-Upton. 2023. Ability of morphological traits from needles and cones to identify Pinus pseudostrobus Lindl. varieties. Revista Chapingo serie ciencias forestales y del ambiente 29:99–116. http://dx.doi.org/10.5154/r.rchscfa.2022年05月03日8.
Gernandt, D.S., Willyard, A., Vázquez-Lobo, A., Moreno-Letelier, A., Delgado, P., Figueroa, D.S. and González-Elizondo, M.S. 2025. Multilocus phylogenetics of Pinus subsection Ponderosae using the Hyb-Seq method. Botanical Sciences 103:95–112.
Harrison, S. G. 1965. Taxon 14: 247.
Martínez, M. 1945. Las Pinaceas Mexicanas. Publ. Biol. Univ. Nac. Mexico 16:177–201. Available: https://anales.ib.unam.mx/index.php/anales/article/view/678/623, accessed 2025年10月17日.
Mirov, N. T. 1958. Pinus oaxacana, a new species from Mexico. Madroño 14:145–150. Available: Biodiversity Heritage Library, accessed 2025年10月17日.
Perry, Jesse P. 1991. The Pines of Mexico and Central America. Portland, OR: Timber Press. 231 pp.
Shaw, G. R. 1909. The pines of Mexico. Publ. Arnold Arbor. 1:19. Available: Biodiversity Heritage Library, accessed 2025年10月17日.
Silba, J. 2009. J. Int. Conifer Preserv. Soc. 16: 31.
Chávez-Pascual, Edwin Yoshimar, Gerardo Rodríguez-Ortiz, José Raymundo Enríquez-del Valle, Vicente Arturo Velasco-Velasco, and Martín Gómez-Cárdenas. 2017. Compartimentos de biomasa aérea en rodales de Pinus oaxacana bajo tratamientos silvícolas. Madera y bosques 23(3):147–161.
This paper presents allometric equations for estimating P. oaxacana biomass.
Machuca-Velasco, Roberto, Emilio Morales-Villalba, and Rogelio Flores Velásquez. 2012. Trabajabilidad de la madera de Pinus oaxacana Mirov proveniente de una plantación en el Estado de México. Revista Chapingo serie ciencias forestales y del ambiente 18(2):193–205.
In a workability test, P. oaxacana wood was graded as having excellent workability, and is suitable for use in the manufacture of products such as doors, windows, frames, moldings, and furniture in general.
Last Modified 2025年11月14日
