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• Pinus engelmannii Carr.

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The eye-catchingly long needles, 'fluffy' appearance and strong fragrance of this pine prompt lots of questions from our visitors.

Three specimens of Pinus engelmannii, the Apache Pine, stand with several other 'Mexican Pines' halfway along garden bed 206. This is our North American Evergreen Pine/Oak Woodland that stretches below the road from the Northern Pavilion. The bed extends southwest to a stand of native bush [wet sclerophyll forest] and the Gondwana section of the garden.

The Apache Pine is said by some authors to be one of the pines that have, when young, a 'grass stage', a single, straight trunk with a conical mop-top of needles. This stage was definitely exhibited by our specimens of Pinus palustris. However, our Apache Pines conformed with other descriptions of them being similar to P. palustris though never developing a 'grass stage'. Instead, the short branches and long needles resulted in a compact, conical form. Adult trees, 25 to 35 metres in height, are tall and slender and supported by a deep taproot. Between these two extremes you can see that our specimens are losing their compact, densely foliaged form and are becoming more branched and open.

The main natural population of this pine occurs at altitudes from 2,000 to 2,500 metres mostly on the northern slopes of the Sierra Madre Occidentale range in Mexico. Our featured trees are often associated with other pine species and can survive, frost, snow and low (400-500 mm) annual rainfall although 'best growth is made on deep, well-drained soils of the high valleys and mesas.' Jesse P. Perry, Jr., (1991). The Pines of Mexico and Central America, Timber Press

If you have read our Plant of the Week profiles in the past you will notice that my title has changed. However, the challenge and delight of producing this information remains with the new position.

Jan Allen
Garden Information Officer