Everything about The Sugar Pine totally explained
The
Sugar Pine (
Pinus lambertiana; family
Pinaceae) is a species of
pine that occurs in the mountains of
Oregon and
California in the western
United States, and
Baja California in northwestern
Mexico; specifically the
Sierra Nevada, the
Cascade Range, the
Coast Ranges, and the
Sierra San Pedro Martir.
This tree is the largest species of pine, commonly growing to 40-60 meters (130-200 feet) tall, exceptionally up to 81 m (265 ft) tall, and with a trunk diameter of 1.5-2.5 m (5-8 ft), exceptionally 3.5 m (11 ft).
It is a member of the
white pine group,
Pinus subgenus
Strobus, and like all members of that group, the
leaves ('needles') are in fascicles (bundles) of five, with a deciduous sheath. They are 6-11 cm (2-4 inch) long. Sugar Pine is notable for having the longest
cones of any conifer, mostly 25-50 cm (10-20 in) long, exceptionally up to
66 cm (26 in) long (although the cones of the
Coulter pine are more massive). The
seeds are 10-12 mm (0.4-0.5 in) long, with a 2-3 cm (0.75-1.2 in) long wing that aids wind dispersal.
The Sugar Pine has been severely affected by the
White Pine Blister Rust (
Cronartium ribicola), a fungus that was accidentally introduced from Europe in
1909. A high proportion of the Sugar Pine has been killed by the blister rust, particularly in the northern part of the species' range that has experienced the rust for a longer period of time. The rust has also destroyed much of the
Western White Pine and
Whitebark Pine throughout their ranges.
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) The
U.S. Forest Service has a program (see link below) for developing rust-resistant Sugar Pine and
Western White Pine. Seedlings of these trees have been introduced into the wild. The Sugar Pine Foundation in the
Lake Tahoe Basin has been successful in finding resistant sugar pine seed trees and has demonstrated that it's important for private citizens to assist the U.S. Forest Service in restoring this species.
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Naturalist John Muir considered Sugar Pine to be the "king of the conifers". The name comes from the sweet resin, which Muir found preferable to
maple sugar.
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Folklore
In the
Achumawi creation myth,
Annikadel, the creator, makes one of the 'First People' by intentionally dropping a Sugar Pine seed in a place suitable for growth. One of the descendants in this
ancestry is Sugarpine-Cone man, who has a handsome son named Ahsoballache.
After Ahsoballache marries the daughter of To'kis the Chipmunk-woman, his grandfather insists that the new couple have a child. To this end, the grandfather breaks open a
scale from a Sugar Pine cone, and secretly instructs Ahsoballache to immerse the scale's contents in
spring water and hide it inside a covered
basket. Ahsoballache performs the tasks that night; at the next dawn, he and his wife discover the
infant Edechewe near their bed.
References and external links
Further Information
Get more info on 'Sugar Pine'.
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