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Smith, R.W.

Pinus aristata

Pinus aristata Engelm.

Bristlecone Pine, Bristle-cone Pine

Pinaceae (Pine Family)

Synonym(s):

USDA Symbol: PIAR

USDA Native Status: L48 (N)

A dwarf, shrubby, picturesque tree, 12-45 ft. tall. Trunk is short and contorted, bearing stout branches. Blue-green to gray-green, aromatic needles. Bristle-like prickles at the edge of each cone scale. Tree with very short needles crowded into mass suggesting a foxtail and a broad, irregular crown of spreading branches; a low shrub at timberline.

These ancient trees are extremely long-lived, and the oldest ones are an impressive sight, with their twisted trunks and their gnarled roots clinging to windswept mountain ridges. The Intermountain Bristlecone Pine (P. longaeva), found from Utah to Nevada and eastern California, used to be considered a variety of P. aristata. Representatives of the Intermountain species are some of the oldest individual trees known, surpassing 4,000 years.

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