Fig. 326, Cone. Fig. 327, Seed, nut and wing. Fig. 328, Magnified leaf-section.
66. PINUS COULTERI
- 1837 P. Coulteri D. Don in Trans. Linn. Soc. xvii. 440.
- 1840 P. macrocarpa Lindley in Bot. Reg. xxvi. Misc. 62.
Spring-shoots multinodal, pruinose. Leaves in fascicles of 3, from 15 to 30 cm. long, very stout; resin-ducts medial, or with an occasional internal duct, hypoderm multiform and of many cells. Conelet very large, the scales tapering to a long sharp point. Cones from 25 to 35 cm. long, reflexed, ovate or oblong-ovate, somewhat oblique, persistent; apophyses sublustrous tawny yellow, very protuberant, with a narrow shoulder from which springs the umbo in the form of a large stout curved talon; seed-wing nearly equally divided between the very thick base and the membranous apex.
Remarkable among Pines for the size and weight of its cones, many times heavier than the longer cones of P. Lambertiana, illustrating the great change that the cone-tissues undergo in the gradual evolution of the species. It is a tree with dark-green foliage, growing from northern Lower California over the mountains of southern California to the Santa Lucia range and to Mt. Diablo. It is of no value except for fuel and for its large nuts. It is best recognized by its seed. The cone differs from the others of this group in its yellow color, not unlike that of boxwood.