Tree+Five

Welcome to the Pinus Radiata The **Monterey Pine**, //**Pinus radiata**//, family [|Pinaceae], also known as the **Insignis Pine**[|[][|1][|]] or **Radiata Pine** is a [|species] of [|pine] native to the [|Central Coast of California]. Although //Pinus radiata// is extensively cultivated as a plantation timber in many temperate parts of the world.[|[][|2][|]], it faces serious threats in its natural range[|[][|3][|]].

[[|edit]] Distribution
//Pinus radiata// is a [|species] of [|pine] native to [|Central Coast of California], in three very limited areas located in [|Santa Cruz], [|Monterey] and [|San Luis Obispo Counties]. It is also found as the [|variety] //Pinus radiata// var. //binata// or **Guadalupe Pine** on [|Guadalupe Island], and a possibly separable //P. radiata// var./[|subspecies]—ssp. //cedrosensis// on [|Cedros Island], both in the [|Pacific Ocean] off the west coast of the northern [|Baja California Peninsula] in [|Mexico].

[[|edit]] Description
//Pinus radiata// grows to between 15–30 m in height in the wild, but up to 60 m in cultivation in optimum conditions, with upward pointing branches and a rounded top. The [|leaves] ('needles') are bright green, in clusters of three (two in var. //binata//), slender, 8–15 cm long and with a blunt tip. The [|cones] are 7–17 cm long, brown, ovoid (egg-shaped), and usually set asymmetrically on a branch, attached at an oblique angle. The [|bark] is fissured and dark grey to brown. It is closely related to [|Bishop Pine] and [|Knobcone Pine], hybridizing readily with both species; it is distinguished from the former by needles in threes (not pairs), and from both by the cones not having a sharp spine on the scales.

[[|edit]] California
The forests in which Monterey Pine grows are associated with other characteristic flora and fauna of note. The only two forests in which //[|Cupressus macrocarpa]// naturally occurs are located in coastal [|Monterey County], where //P. radiata// is a co-dominant overstory species.[|[][|4][|]] Furthermore, one of the pine forests in [|Monterey, California] was the discovery site for [|Hickman's potentilla], an endangered species. //[|Piperia yadonii]//, a rare species of [|orchid] is endemic to the same pine forest adjacent to [|Pebble Beach]. Nearby in a remnant pine forest of [|Pacific Grove], is a prime wintering habitat of the [|Monarch butterfly].[|[][|5][|]]. In the wild, the Monterey Pine proper is seriously threatened in California by an introduced fungal disease, [|Pine Pitch Canker], caused by //[|Fusarium circinatum]//.

[[|edit]] Australia
Australia also has large //P. radiata// plantations (though they are less than 1% of the total forested area); so much so that many Australians are concerned by the resulting loss of native wildlife habitat. A few native animals, however, thrive on them, notably the [|Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo] which, although deprived of much of its natural diet by massive habitat alteration through clearing for agriculture, feeds on //P. radiata// seeds.

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