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{{Short description|Species of conifer}}
{{speciesbox
| name = Table Mountain pine
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 20 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=Farjon, A. |date=2013 |title=''Pinus pungens'' |volume=2013 |article-number=e.T42406A2977840 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T42406A2977840.en |access-date=20 November 2021}}</ref>
| image = Pinus pungens.jpg
| image_caption = Cultivated specimen<br />[[Morton Arboretum]] acc. 255-86-3
| genus = Pinus
| parent = Pinus subsect. Australes
| display_parents = 3
| species = pungens
| authority = [[Aylmer Bourke Lambert|Lamb.]]
| range_map = Pinus pungens distribution map.png
| range_map_caption = Natural range
}}

'''Table Mountain pine''',<ref name=GRIN>{{GRIN | accessdate = 4 January 2018}}</ref> '''''Pinus pungens''''', also called '''hickory pine''', '''prickly pine''',<ref name=GRIN/> or '''mountain pine''',<ref name="Moore2008">{{cite book |author1=Moore, Gerry |author2=Kershner, Bruce |author3=Craig Tufts |author4=Daniel Mathews |author5=Gil Nelson |author5-link=Gil Nelson |author6=Spellenberg, Richard |author7=Thieret, John W. |author8=Terry Purinton |author9=Block, Andrew |title=National Wildlife Federation Field Guide to Trees of North America |publisher=Sterling |location=New York |year=2008 |page=71 |isbn=978-1-4027-3875-3}}</ref> is a small [[pine]] native to the [[Appalachian Mountains]] in the [[United States]].

==Description==
''Pinus pungens'' is a [[tree]] of modest size ({{convert|6–12|m|disp=or}}), and has a rounded, irregular shape. The needles are in bundles of two, occasionally three, yellow-green to mid green, fairly stout, and {{convert|4–7|cm|frac=2}} long. The pollen is released early compared to other pines in the area which minimizes hybridization. The cones are very short-stalked (almost [[sessility (botany)|sessile]]), ovoid, pale pinkish to yellowish buff, and {{convert|4–9|cm|frac=2}} long; each scale bears a stout, sharp spine {{convert|4–10|mm|frac=128}} long. Sapling trees can bear cones in as little as 5 years.
[[File:Pinus pungens male cones.jpg|thumb|Male cones (pollen cones)]]
Buds ovoid to cylindric, red-brown, {{convert|6-9|mm|frac=64}}, resinous.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.conifers.org/pi/Pinus_pungens.php|title=Pinus pungens (Table Mountain pine) description - The Gymnosperm Database|website=www.conifers.org|access-date=2019-06-11}}</ref>

=== Morphology ===
''Pinus pungens'' is a native, slow-growing conifer. It is often small in stature and exceedingly limby.<ref>Della-Bianca, Lino. 1990. Pinus pungens Lamb. Table Mountain pine. In: Burns, Russell M.; Honkala, Barbara H., technical coordinators. Silvics of North America. Volume 1. Conifers. Agric. Handb. 654. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service: 425-432.</ref> It rarely grows beyond 66 feet (20 m) tall, though the tallest individual recorded was 95 feet (29 m).<ref name=":110">{{Cite web |title=Pinus pungens |url=https://www.fs.usda.gov/database/feis/plants/tree/pinpun/all.html#BOTANICAL%20AND%20ECOLOGICAL%20CHARACTERISTICS |access-date=2023-11-14 |website=www.fs.usda.gov}}</ref> ''Pinus pungens'' is typically around {{convert|16|in|cm}} [[diameter at breast height]] (DBH). The maximum recorded DBH was {{convert|34|in|cm}}.<ref name=":110"/> The trunks of ''Pinus pungens'' are often crooked and have irregularly shaped cross-sections. Older trees tend to be flat-topped, while young trees can vary in form from that of a large bush when open-grown, to slender with relatively small limbs when grown in a dense stand.<ref name=":34">{{Cite journal |last=Zobel |first=Donald B. |date=1970 |title=Morphological Characterization of Pinus pungens |journal=Journal of the Elisha Mitchell Scientific Society |volume=86 |issue=4 |pages=214–221 |jstor=24334835 |issn=0013-6220}}</ref> Table Mountain pine typically has long, thick limbs on much of the trunk even in closed canopy stands.<ref name=":34"/>

Male cones are {{convert|1.5|cm|in}} long. Female cones are sessile and range from {{convert|4.2|to|10|cm|in}} long.<ref name=":34"/> Cone scales are tough and armed with broad, upwardly curving spines.<ref name=":110"/>

== Taxonomy ==
''Pinus pungens'' was described by British botanist [[Aylmer Bourke Lambert]] (1761–1842) in 1805.

== Distribution and habitat ==

=== Distribution ===
''Pinus pungens'' distribution is centered in the Appalachian Mountains of the eastern United States, primarily in the [[Blue Ridge Mountains|Blue Ridge]] and Valley-and-Ridge provinces of the [[Appalachian Highlands]]. Its range extends from central Pennsylvania, southwest to eastern West Virginia and southward into North Carolina, Tennessee, and the extreme northeast corner of Georgia.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pinus pungens |url=https://www.fs.usda.gov/database/feis/plants/tree/pinpun/all.html#DISTRIBUTION%20AND%20OCCURRENCE |access-date=2023-11-14 |website=www.fs.usda.gov}}</ref> There are outlying populations of ''Pinus pungens'' to the east of the [[Appalachian Mountains|Appalachians]] in the piedmont often on isolated peaks and [[monadnocks]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pinus pungens |url=https://www.fs.usda.gov/database/feis/plants/tree/pinpun/all.html#DISTRIBUTION%20AND%20OCCURRENCE |access-date=2023-11-14 |website=www.fs.usda.gov}}</ref>

=== Habitat ===
''Pinus pungens'' prefers dry conditions and is mostly found on rocky slopes and peaks, favoring higher elevations averaging of ~300-1700 meters.<ref name=":110"/>

== Ecology ==
[[File:Pinus-pungens-04.JPG|thumb|upright=0.9|Young female cone]]
''Pinus pungens'' prefers dry conditions and is mostly found on rocky slopes, rocky knobs, and peaks, favoring higher elevations, from {{convert|300–1760|m}} altitude. It commonly grows as single scattered trees or small groves, not in large forests like most other pines, and needs periodic disturbances for seedling establishment. Throughout the Appalachian Mountain range, ''P. pungens'' is a component of conifer-dominated communities along combination with other pine species.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Brose |first=Patrick H. |date=2017 |title=Characteristics, Histories, and Future Succession of Northern Pinus pungens Stands |journal=The American Midland Naturalist |volume=177 |issue=1 |pages=126–142 |doi=10.1674/0003-0031-177.1.126 |jstor=44840306 |issn=0003-0031}}</ref> The three tallest known ''Pinus pungens'' are in [[Paris Mountain State Park]], South Carolina; they are {{convert|26.85 to 29.96|m|ftin}} tall.<ref name=":0" />

== Fire ecology ==
Fire histories developed for two ''Pinus pungens'' communities in southwestern Virginia revealed that between 1758 and 1944, fires burned approximately every 5 to 10 years during the dormant season.<ref name=":110"/><ref name=":45">Sutherland, Elaine & Grissino-Mayer, H & Woodhouse, C & Covington, William & Horn, S & Huckaby, Laurie & Kerr, R & Kush, John & Moorte, M & Plumb, T. (1995). Two centuries of fire in a southwestern Virginia Pinus pungens community.</ref> Lack of ''Pinus pungens'' and increasing dominance of trees belonging to the [[Fagaceae]] (Oaks & Beeches) appear to coincide with fire exclusion practices initiated after 1950 resulting in a lack of regeneration.<ref name=":110"/><ref name=":45"/>

=== Fire adaptations ===
''Pinus pungens'' has adaptations to fire that are consistent with both long- and short-return-interval fire regimes.<ref name=":110"/><ref name=":45"/> Medium-thick to thick bark, a large rooting habit, self sufficient self-pruning limbs, and pitch/sap production to seal wounds are characteristics of ''Pinus pungens'' that suggest it is adapted to survive frequent, low-severity fire up to medium intensity fire.<ref name=":110"/><ref name=":45"/> One major adaptation of ''Pinus pungens'' to fire are the long dormant [[Serotiny|serotinous]] cones that open and spread seeds after high heat exposure.<ref name=":34"/><ref name=":45"/><ref name=":110"/>

=== Fire regime ===
''Pinus pungens'' was historically subject to a full range of fire frequencies and types: frequent low-severity surface fires, mixed-severity fires, and stand-replacement fires.<ref name=":110"/><ref>Barden, Lawrence S. 1979. Serotiny and seed viability of Pinus pungens in the southern Appalachians. Castanea. 44(1): 44-47</ref> Fire occurs infrequently on contemporary Appalachian landscapes where ''Pinus pungens'' is common.<ref>Lafon, Charles W.; Kutac, Martin J. 2003. Effects of ice storms, southern pine beetle infestation, and fire on Table Mountain pine forests of southwestern Virginia. Physical Geography. 24(6): 502-519.</ref>

Current age structure of ''Pinus pungens'' suggest fire is an important influence on stand structure and regeneration as it regulates and clears the land periodically.<ref>Zobel, Donald B. 1969. Factors affecting the distribution of Pinus pungens, an Appalachian endemic. Ecological Monographs.</ref><ref name=":110"/> This can be seen in areas of the [[Chattahoochee National Forest]], Georgia where large Table Mountain pines have not regenerated due to lack of needed conditions to rejuvenate both the soil and trees.<ref name=":110"/><ref>Turrill, Nicole L.; Buckner, Edward R.; Waldrop, Thomas A. 1997. Pinus pungens Lam. (Table Mountain pine): a threatened species without fire? In: Greenlee, Jason M., ed. Proceedings, 1st conference on fire effects on rare and endangered species and habitats; 1995 November 13-16; Coeur d'Alene, ID. Fairfield, WA: International Association of Wildland Fire:</ref> Large gaps in year tree classes are the result of fire suppression.<ref name=":110"/><ref>Williams, Charles E.; Johnson, W. Carter. 1990. Age structure and the maintenance of Pinus pungens in pine-oak forests of southwestern Virginia. The American Midland Naturalist.</ref>

== Conservation status ==
''Pinus pungens'' is considered secure in Virginia and apparently secure in North Carolina, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania.<ref>{{Cite web |title=NatureServe Explorer 2.0 |url=https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.131783/Pinus_pungens |access-date=2023-12-05 |website=explorer.natureserve.org}}</ref> Its considered Vulnerable in Georgia, Critically Imperiled in New Jersey, and Exotic in Illinois.<ref>{{Cite web |title=NatureServe Explorer 2.0 |url=https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.131783/Pinus_pungens |access-date=2023-12-05 |website=explorer.natureserve.org}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}
*Farjon, A. & Frankis, M. P. (2002). Pinus pungens. ''Curtis's Botanical Magazine'' 19: 97–103.

==External links==
*[http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=233500949 Flora of North America: ''Pinus pungens'' info] ''and'' [http://www.efloras.org/object_page.aspx?object_id=6653&flora_id=1 ''P. pungens'' Range Map]
*[http://www.cas.vanderbilt.edu/bioimages/species/frame/pipu5.htm ''Pinus pungens'' images at bioimages.vanderbilt.edu] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120204042508/http://www.cas.vanderbilt.edu/bioimages/species/frame/pipu5.htm |date=2012-02-04 }}
{{Commons category|position=left|Pinus pungens}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q3087592}}

[[Category:Pinus]]
[[Category:Pinus taxa by common names]]
[[Category:Endemic flora of the United States]]
[[Category:Flora of the Appalachian Mountains]]
[[Category:Trees of Northern America]]
[[Category:Least concern flora of the United States]]
[[Category:Flora of the Southeastern United States]]
[[Category:Flora of West Virginia]]
[[Category:Flora of Pennsylvania]]

Table mountain pine - Revision history

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