{{Short description|Species of pine tree in California}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2016}} {{speciesbox | name = Torrey pine | image = Torrey Pine at Santa Rosa Island.jpg | image_caption = A Torrey pine on the northeast coast of Santa Rosa Island, California | status = CR | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 11 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=Farjon, A. |date=2013 |title=''Pinus torreyana'' |volume=2013 |article-number=e.T42424A2979186 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T42424A2979186.en |access-date=11 November 2021}}</ref> | status2 = {{TNCStatus}} | status2_system = TNC | status2_ref = <ref>{{cite web |title=NatureServe Explorer 2.0 |url=https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.147567/Pinus_torreyana |website=explorer.natureserve.org |access-date=20 April 2022}}</ref> | genus = Pinus | parent = Pinus subsect. Ponderosae | display_parents = 3 | species = torreyana | authority = Parry ex Carr. | range_map = Pinus torreyana range map 2.png | range_map_caption = Natural range of ''Pinus torreyana'' }}
The '''Torrey pine''' ('''''Pinus torreyana''''') is a rare pine species in California, United States. It is a critically endangered species growing only in coastal San Diego County, and on Santa Rosa Island, offshore from Santa Barbara in Santa Barbara County, and in Monterey County.<ref>{{cite web|title=Santa Rosa Island|url=https://www.nps.gov/chis/planyourvisit/santa-rosa-island.htm|website=Channel Islands|publisher=National Park Service|access-date=30 January 2018}}</ref> The Torrey pine is endemic to the California coastal sage and chaparral ecoregion.<ref name="ucjeps">{{cite web|url=http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/get_cpn.pl?38315 |title=Pinus torreyana Parry ex Carrière |work=Ucjeps.berkeley.edu |date= |access-date=August 9, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.globaltwitcher.com/artspec_information.asp?thingid=62498 |title=Torrey Pine (Pinus torreyana) |author=C. Michael Hogan |work=GlobalTwitcher.com |date=September 11, 2008 |access-date=August 9, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120525111837/http://www.globaltwitcher.com/artspec_information.asp?thingid=62498 |archive-date=May 25, 2012 }}</ref>
==Taxonomy== The species epithet ''torreyana'' is named for John Torrey, an American botanist, after whom the coniferous genus ''Torreya'' is also named.<ref name="torreyana">{{cite web|author=Lisa |url=https://lh2treeid.blogspot.com/2010/09/pinus-torreyana-torrey-pine.html |title=Tree Identification: Pinus torreyana - Torrey Pine |work=Lh2treeid.blogspot.com |date=September 22, 2010 |access-date=August 9, 2013}}</ref>
==Description== ''Pinus torreyana'' is a broad, open-crowned pine tree growing to {{convert|8|–|17|m|ft|sp=us}} tall in the wild, with {{convert|25|–|30|cm|in|sp=us}} long leaves ('needles') in groups of five. The cones are stout and heavy, typically {{convert|8|-|15|cm|in|abbr=on}} long and broad, and contain large, hard-shelled, but edible, pine nuts.<ref name="ucjeps"/> Like all pines, its needles are clustered into 'fascicles' that have a particular number of needles for each pine species; in the Torrey pine there are five needles in each fascicle.<ref>{{Gymnosperm Database |family=Pinaceae |genus=Pinus |species=torreyana |access-date=August 6, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sci.sdsu.edu/plants/sdpls/plants/Pinus_torreyana.html |title=Chaparral and Riparian Plants |work=Sci.sdsu.edu |date= |access-date=August 6, 2013}}</ref> Like all pines, it has strobili, structures that function as a flower but look like a small cone, which for the Torrey pine look like a yellow bud in a male strobilus and like a small red cone in a female.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://naturaltreasureucsd.blogspot.com/2011/01/one-and-only-torrey-pine.html |title=Natural Treasure: The One and Only Torrey Pine |work=Naturaltreasureucsd.blogspot.com |date=February 7, 2011 |access-date=August 6, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://sites.google.com/site/torreypinedo2/life-cycle |title=Life Cycle - torreypinedo2 |work=Sites.google.com |date=July 22, 2011 |access-date=August 6, 2013}}</ref>
Torrey pines are sometimes afflicted with witch's broom (or "gorilla's nest"),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fotocommunity.com/pc/pc/display/24956115 |title=Torrey Pine with witch's broom |author=jiobrien |publisher= |date= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120405174549/http://www.fotocommunity.com/pc/pc/display/24956115 |archive-date=April 5, 2012 |quote=The witch's broom or gorrila's nest is an abnormal area of growth on the tree of uncertain origin. |access-date=May 4, 2014}}</ref> an unusually dense cluster of needles that looks somewhat like a bird's nest, caused by disease or other causes.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://loresgardens.blogspot.com/2008/08/torrey-pines-state-reserve.html |title=Welcome to My Garden!: Torrey Pines State Reserve |work=Loresgardens.blogspot.com |date=August 17, 2008 |access-date=August 6, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/7147757 |title=Torrey Pine |publisher=Project Noah |date= |access-date=August 6, 2013}}</ref>
There are two subspecies or varieties. These are said to be distinguished by the following characteristics, as well as possibly differing in the terpenoid (beta-phellandrene, limonene, cineole, etc.) profile.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=38315 |title=''Pinus torreyana'' in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) |last1=Haller |first1=J. Robert |last2=Vivrette |first2=Nancy J. |date=2012 |website=Jepson eFlora |publisher=Regents of the University of California |access-date=28 September 2020}}</ref> {| class="wikitable " |- ! Image !! Subspecies !!Description !! Distribution |- |120px|| ''Pinus torreyana'' var. ''torreyana'' {{small| (Kral 1993)}} ||There is much space between the branches. The leaf color is said to be generally gray-yellow-green. The cones are generally smaller than {{cvt|13.5|cm}} in width. The sharp tips at the end of the scales are generally less than {{cvt|6|mm}} in length. The seed is generally less than {{cvt|11|mm}} wide, and light to dark brown in color.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=52311 |title=''Pinus torreyana'' subsp. ''torreyana'' in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) |last1=Haller |first1=J. Robert |last2=Vivrette |first2=Nancy J. |date=2012 |website=Jepson eFlora |publisher=Regents of the University of California |access-date=28 September 2020}}</ref> Considered a ''Critically Imperiled Subspecies'' by NatureServe.<ref>{{cite web |title=NatureServe Explorer 2.0 |url=https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.139711/Pinus_torreyana_ssp_torreyana |website=explorer.natureserve.org |access-date=20 April 2022}}</ref> || coast at Del Mar in San Diego County |- |120px||''Pinus torreyana'' var. ''insularis'' {{small|(Haller) Silba 1990}} ||The branches are crowded together. The leaf color is gray-blue-green. The cones are generally larger than {{cvt|13.5|cm}} in width. The sharp tips at the end of the scales are generally larger than {{cvt|6|mm}} in length. The seed is larger than 11mm wide, medium brown to more-or-less black.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=52310 |title=''Pinus torreyana'' subsp. ''insularis'' in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) |last1=Haller |first1=J. Robert |last2=Vivrette |first2=Nancy J. |date=2012 |website=Jepson eFlora |publisher=Regents of the University of California |access-date=28 September 2020}}</ref> Considered a ''Critically Imperiled Subspecies'' by NatureServe.<ref>{{cite web |title=NatureServe Explorer 2.0 |url=https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.132158/Pinus_torreyana_ssp_insularis |website=explorer.natureserve.org |access-date=20 April 2022}}</ref> ||Santa Rosa Island |- |}
== Threats == On May 15, 2026, a fire started on Santa Rosa Island. There is concern that it might reach the grove where the pines grow.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Karlamangla |first=Soumya |date=2026-05-18 |title=A Sailor Shot Distress Flares. Now a California Island Is Burning. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/18/us/santa-rosa-channel-island-wildfire.html |access-date=2026-05-21 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
==Distribution== The extant population of ''Pinus torreyana'' is restricted to trees growing in a narrow strip along the Southern California coast in San Diego.<ref name="Moore2008">{{cite book |author1=Moore, Gerry |author2=Kershner, Bruce |author3=Craig Tufts |author4=Daniel Mathews |author5=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=84 |isbn=978-1-4027-3875-3}}</ref> There is also a population of the variety '''''Pinus torreyana'' var. ''insularis''''' in two groves on Santa Rosa Island, a California Channel Island off the coast of Santa Barbara, and in Pacific Grove on the foggy Monterey County coast, where a number of massive old specimens can be seen behind homes on the bayward side of the 900 block of Bayview Avenue. <ref>{{cite web|url=http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/get_cpn.pl?52310 |title=Pinus torreyana Parry ex Carrière subsp. insularis J. R. Haller |work=Ucjeps.berkeley.edu |date= |access-date=August 9, 2013}}</ref><!-- P. torreyana var. insularis . accessed September 9, 2010 --><ref>{{Gymnosperm Database |genus=Pinus |species=torreyana |access-date=May 4, 2014}}</ref> The presence of Torrey pines along the semi-arid coast of San Diego and Santa Rosa Island (rainfall less than 15 inches per year) is probably a relict population of a much more extensive Ice Age distribution. Coastal fog during spring and summer along the San Diego and Santa Rosa Island coast provides just enough moisture to supplement the fairly low winter rainfall, allowing for survival of the species in the wild habitat zone.<ref>{{Cite journal | doi=10.1007/s00442-008-1025-y|title = The influence of summertime fog and overcast clouds on the growth of a coastal Californian pine: A tree-ring study| journal=Oecologia| volume=156| issue=3| pages=601–611|year = 2008|last1 = Williams|first1 = A. Park| last2=Still| first2=Christopher J.| last3=Fischer| first3=Douglas T.| last4=Leavitt| first4=Steven W.|pmid = 18368424|bibcode = 2008Oecol.156..601W|s2cid = 11172462| url=https://escholarship.org/uc/item/95c2k1zz | doi-access=free}}</ref>
==Ecology== The native habitat of ''Pinus torreyana'' is coastal sage scrub, a plant community, growing slowly in dry, sandy soil. The root system is extensive. A tiny seedling may quickly send a taproot down {{convert|60|cm|in|sp=us}} seeking moisture and nutrients. A mature tree may have roots extending {{convert|75|m|ft|sp=us}}. Exposed trees battered by coastal winds are often twisted into beautiful sculptural shapes resembling large bonsai, and rarely exceed {{convert|12|m|ft|abbr=on}} tall.
The seeds are eaten by birds and rodents.<ref name=Peattie1963>{{cite book |last=Peattie |first=Donald Culross |author-link=Donald C. Peattie |title=A Natural History of Western Trees |year=1953 |publisher=Bonanza Books |location=New York |pages=96–97}}<!-- No specific NA tribe named --></ref> Like most pine tree species, the seeds have a wing attached to them, but in this species it is papery, breaks off easily, and is entirely non-functional, so this tree is entirely reliant upon animals to disperse its seeds. The scrub jay (''Aphelocoma californica'') is the most important species when it comes to dispersal of the seeds (on the mainland). Scrub jays and perhaps also squirrels are thought to be spreading the species into adjacent parklands from gardens around San Diego.<ref name=TNCplantguide/><ref name=Calscape>{{cite web |url=https://calscape.org/Pinus-torreyana-(Torrey-Pine)?srchcr=sc5f721fe5e21e9 |title=Torrey Pine ''Pinus torreyana'' |author=<!--Not stated--> |date= |website=Calscape |publisher=California Native Plant Society |access-date=28 September 2020}}</ref>
The caterpillars of the moth ''Gloveria arizonensis'' have been confirmed to feed on this tree in the wild.<ref name=Calscape/>
Stratification, which is the process of subjecting seeds to (moist) cold, encourages germination in Torrey pine seeds<ref>{{FEIS |last=Esser |first=Lora L. |date=1993 |genus=Pinus |species=torreyana |type=tree |access-date=August 6, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://digitalseed.com/common/common.mv?showthread+1106690986+3 |title=germination of Torrey pines |author=Santiago |publisher= |date=January 25, 2005 |access-date=August 9, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425132200/http://digitalseed.com/common/common.mv?showthread+1106690986+3 |archive-date=April 25, 2012 }}</ref>
==Uses==
===Food=== The pine nuts were once eaten by the Kumeyaay tribe of Native American people.<ref name=Peattie1963/><ref name=TNCplantguide>{{Cite web|url=https://thenaturecollective.org/plant-guide/details/torrey-pine/|title=Torrey Pine|website=Nature Collective|date=April 16, 2019 |language=en-US|access-date=2020-04-22}}</ref>
===Cultivation=== Although considered endangered in the wild, Torrey pine is often planted as an ornamental tree around San Diego, coastal and inland southern California, and even the Central Valley.<ref name=TNCplantguide/> A single tree planted in a suburb of San Diego in the 1940s or 1950s has grown tall and straight, and to a large size, {{convert|108|ft|m|sp=us}}.<ref name="UTSanDiego20070206">{{cite news|url=http://legacy.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/metro/20070206-9999-1m6tree.html |title=Residents say tree too big, too old for neighborhood |author=Anne Krueger |publisher=Union-Tribune Publishing Co |date=February 6, 2007 |access-date=January 31, 2016 |archive-date=January 31, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170131083841/http://legacy.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/metro/20070206-9999-1m6tree.html |quote=Houses replaced avocado groves on the East County land that surrounds the Torrey pine. Torrey pines are widely planted as an ornamental species}}</ref> Shipley Nature Center states it can grow to {{convert|148|ft|m|abbr=on}} in height in cultivation.<ref>{{cite web |title=TORREY PINE HABITAT |url=http://shipleynature.org/eight-habitats/7/ |publisher=Shipley Nature Center |date= |access-date=May 31, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.redorbit.com/education/reference_library/plant_kingdom/conifers/1113149365/torrey-pine-pinus-torreyana/ |title=Torrey Pine, Pinus torreyana |publisher=Conifers Reference Library |work=redOrbit |date= |access-date=May 31, 2014 |quote=The Torrey pine is planted as ornamental trees, with better soil and with controlled watering, it lends to being a fast growing tree to heights of 148 feet. This pine is drought tolerant as the tap roots can go as deep as 200 feet to find moisture. The tree is also shade tolerant. }}{{Dead link|date=July 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> It is sold by at least ten different plant nurseries in California as of 2020.<ref name=Calscape/>
===Forestry=== ''Pinus torreyana'' has been considered as a plantation tree for forestry use in Australia, New Zealand and Kenya.<ref name="McMaster_thesis">{{cite thesis|last=McMaster |first=Gregory Scott |date=1980 |title=Patterns of reproduction in Torrey pine ''(Pinus torreyana)'' |place=San Diego, California |publisher=San Diego State University }}</ref>
===Culture=== In San Diego County it is considered a local icon, where it lends its name to Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve, Torrey Pines State Beach, Torrey Pines Golf Course, Torrey Pines High School, and Torrey Pines Gliderport, as well as numerous local roads, parks, and businesses (e.g., Torrey Pines Bank,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.torreypinesbank.com/ |title=Torrey Pines Bank |publisher= |date=December 17, 2010 |access-date=August 6, 2013}}</ref> Torrey Pines Property Management Company,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.torreypinespm.com/ |title=Torrey Pines Property Management Company, San Diego Property Management, Apartments for Rent in San Diego, CA |publisher= |date= |access-date=August 6, 2013}}</ref> Torrey Pines Landscape Company,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tplandscape.com/ |title=San Diego Landscape Designers Contractors Torrey Pines Landscaping |work=Tplandscape.com |date= |access-date=August 6, 2013}}</ref> and Torrey Pines Law Group.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.torreypineslaw.com/ |title=Torrey Pines Law Group |publisher= |date=June 1, 2020 |access-date=June 1, 2020}}</ref>)
==Conservation== There is some disagreement about the total population of ''Pinus torreyana''. In general, only the populations in Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve and on Santa Rosa Island are deemed to count as the wild population, not the trees planted around San Diego and wider California. In the 1970s it was estimated that the population in the TPSR and on Santa Rosa Island was about 9,000 individuals, but many of these trees have since died due to forest fires, drought and a series of infestations of a bark beetle, as well as being stressed by air pollution. There were only a hundred trees surviving in the early 20th century. As of 2016 it is thought by the California Native Plant Society that the population of this species is some 3,000 individuals.<ref name=TNCplantguide/> In 2011, Aljos Farjon, assessing the conservation status of this species for the IUCN, estimated that the total population of ''P. torreyana'' was 4,500 individuals. He states that there is a slow decline of the numbers, especially of the trees not found within the TPSR on the mainland.<ref name="iucn status 11 November 2021" />
The Torrey pine is protected by a city tree ordinance in Del Mar, near the native habitat, and construction projects and residents require a permit for its removal.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.delmar.ca.us/faq.aspx?qid=170 |title=How can I cut my tree down? |publisher=City of Del Mar |date= |access-date=May 11, 2014}}</ref>
== Gallery == <gallery> File:Torrey Pine Cones.jpg|Torrey pine: female pine cones File:Torrey Pine Grove.jpg|A wild Torrey pine grove, Santa Rosa Island, California File:111101 LPL both strobili end AUT 025.jpg|Strobili on a Torrey pine File:Torrey Pine Bark Mature.jpg|Torrey pine mature bark and nameplate in Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Garden, Los Angeles, California </gallery>
==References== {{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}
==External links== {{Commons|Pinus torreyana}} * [http://plants.sc.egov.usda.gov/plant-profile?symbol=PITO USDA PLANTS entry] * [https://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=PITO USDA Plants Profile: ''Pinus torreyana''] * [http://www.torreypine.org Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve] * [https://calscape.org/loc-California/Pinus-torreyana-(Torrey-Pine)?srchcr=sc6051db55aea36 Calscape, California Native Plant Society: Torrey Pine (''Pinus torreyana'')] * [http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/get_cpn.pl?38315 Jepson Manual Treatment: ''Pinus torreyana''] * [http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?query_src=photos_index&where-lifeform=any&rel-taxon=contains&where-taxon=Pinus+torreyana&rel-namesoup=matchphrase&where-namesoup=&rel-location=matchphrase&where-location=&rel-county=eq&where-county=any&rel-state=eq&where-state=any&rel-country=eq&where-country=any&where-collectn=any&rel-photographer=contains&where-photographer=&rel-kwid=equals&where-kwid=&max_rows=24 ''Pinus torreyana'' Photo gallery]
{{Taxonbar|from=Q2746149}}
Category:Pinus Category:Pinus taxa by common names Category:Endemic flora of California Category:Trees of Northern America Category:Natural history of the California chaparral and woodlands Category:Natural history of the Channel Islands of California Category:Natural history of San Diego County, California Category:Taxa named by Charles Christopher Parry Category:Taxa named by Élie-Abel Carrière Category:Edible nuts and seeds Category:Trees of Mediterranean climate