Participant Info

Species

Pinus edulis [Pinus cembriodes var. edulis]

Family

Pinaceae

CommonName

pinyon pine

Presence

Yes

Status

native

EarliestDate

1918

LatestDate

2020

Ecosystem

shrubland, foothill, montane

Geobotanical

SSawatch, Garitas, SSanjuans, Culebras, NCristos, LBasin

Counties

Alamosa, Conejos, Costilla, Hinsdale, Mineral, Rio Grande, Saguache

Passes

Medano, Mosca

WildlifePreserves

Coller, Great Sand Dunes, Hot Creek, Rio Grande

Other Localities

La Botica

PhotoRecords

YES Rich Haswell: Rio Grande Co, Chico trail just S of Del Norte 3 March 2020

Comments

Along with juniper, pinyon pine defines the foothills, on both sides of the valley. It can also be found in the San Luis Hills of the Lower Basin. Pinus edulis is basically a foothill plant of the USA Southwest: Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah, where pine nuts played a significant part of the Amerindian diet. It follows the Rio Grande drainage through New Mexico into far west Texas (El Paso and Hudspeth counties).

Annotation