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The most widespread naturally of the closed-cone pines is bishop pine (Pinus muricata), which can be found along the coast from Humboldt County, California in the north to the northwestern corner of Baja California in the south. Knobcone pine (Pinus attenuata) forests can occur further inland, on dry, rocky soils.
Closed cones indicate damp conditions while open cones indicate the forest floor is dry. As a result of this, pine cones have often been used by people in temperate climates to predict dry and wet weather, usually hanging a harvested pine cone from some string outside to measure the humidity of the air.
Pinus elliottii. Subsection Australes is native to North and Central America and islands in the Caribbean. [4] [8] [9] Pinus muricata. The closed-cone (serotinous) species of California and Baja California, P. attenuata, P. muricata, and P. radiata, are sometimes placed in a separate subsection, Attenuatae. [10] P. attenuata – knobcone pine
Pinus muricata forest growing at Point Reyes, California. Closed-cone conifer forests are found in small, scattered patches throughout the ecoregion, typically adjacent to maritime chaparral. Common pines are lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta), bishop pine (Pinus muricata), Monterey pine (Pinus radiata), and knobcone pine (Pinus attenuata).
On the coast, the knobcone pine may hybridize with bishop pine (Pinus muricata), and Monterey pine (Pinus radiata). In the western foothills of the Sierra Nevada, knobcone pine is often a co-dominant with blue oak (Quercus douglasii). [7] The species is susceptible to fire, but this melts the cone resin, releasing seeds for regrowth. [4]
The trees of Closed-cone pine forest burned in every 25–50 years, and a few species including the knobcone pine (Pinus attenuata) are adapted to open the cones and release seeds for new growth following the heat of forest fires. However, as fire regulation and suppression becomes more effective these communities cannot renew themselves.
Ripe cones may remain on the plant for a varied amount of time before falling to the ground; in some fire-adapted pines, the seeds may be stored in closed cones for up to 60–80 years, being released only when a fire kills the parent tree.
Pinus contorta, with the common names lodgepole pine and shore pine, and also known as twisted pine, [3] and contorta pine, [3] is a common tree in western North America. It is common near the ocean shore and in dry montane forests to the subalpine , but is rare in lowland rain forests .