Yes, it's not easy, but I recommand a good book :
"The Pines of Mexico and Central America" by Jesse P. Perry Jr.
A very good book.
Clement

Hi

Do you have access to seed as im interested in growing
Mexican conifers I have some here.

Of the ones I suspect you might want, interesting ones: Pinus culminicola, stylesii, pseudostrobus are easy to get and Abies vejarii you can ocassionally pick some cones up in winter from the cerro La Viga ( see photo)...

By the way La Viga has gotten down to -25 degrees celsius...

I've grown:
P. gregii, pseudostrobus, Pseudotsuga menziesii var.glauca (cones collected from large glaucous specimen which I don't think is P. flauhaulti) and C. arizonica with relative ease...

I purchase Pinus culminicola from many years, if you have some seeds they are welcome, I pay the price if you would.
Also Pinus montezumae.
Clement

NorthTurn

Can you Email me please I have some seeds
that I can send you in exchage for those
seeds.

I think everyone is going to want seeds and / or cones ;-))

Your pines for identification: are they bought commercially, or did you grow them yourself from seeds? If the latter, do you still have the cones? That is the best to identify them from.

Resin

PS Perry's book is good, but contains a number of errors (e.g. "Pinus rudis" is a synonym of P. hartwegii, not a separate species).

Hi NorthTurn,

It's great to hear from a new forum member from an area of tremendous conifer diversity. I suspect you are in or near Monterrey? A visit there is definiteiy at the top of my "want list" You can send that "vejarii" cone my way at your earliest convience! lol I have grafts of this species but would rather have them on there own roots

Please email me as I suspect you may be a "wealth" of information...See my home page

Johnny

Yes, in Monterrey...

Resin, most nursery's staff are quick to say " moctezuma" right away. Those three pines in the picture were sold as such. I was later told the nursery sources their pines from Galeana (at the foot of Potosi mtn.) so that makes me believe that the one in the middle might be P. arizonica? What do you think? If it is I am worried how it will fare through our hot summer.

I will make plans to gather some seeds for you all, as soon as I have something I'll let you know. Don't really need anything in exchange, I inexplicably love this stuff...Getting some Picea seeds for you, that would be something...

I am posting the cones of the largest pines I have seen in Mexico... In the mountains north of Oaxaca in a relatively high, cool and moist creek....
Also need help with ID...

...from Oaxaca, not a good set of cones. Best ones I could pick. Did it just to ID the pines since they were unexpectedly large...

Lots of different hard pine species in the area you referenced. Fresher cones, needles per fasicle, bark characteristics, growth patterns etc. As others said, you'll need "Perry book" for sure. Amazon.com usually has it in stock. Then you run into hybridization factors to muddy the waters even more. Good luck!

Also, another reference book with color pics(a pic is worth a thousand words) is "Conifers Around the World"..a two volume set also available from Amazon.com

Have you been to Sierra La Marta and Monterreal Resort? That area would be number one on my "fantasy" list.

Johnny

Thanks for those recommendations, I shall get the book asap.

I've been there. It is very similar to La Viga except La Marta has Picea mexicana on the top ridge (what is now an aspen forest used to be all Picea, burnt in the 70's...).

Monterreal also has nicer Pseudotsuga. La Viga has P. culminicola and great P. stylesii. Both places are beautiful, but forest fires and bark beetles are a huge problem right now...

"I was later told the nursery sources their pines from Galeana (at the foot of Potosi mtn.) so that makes me believe that the one in the middle might be P. arizonica?"

I'd go for Pinus arizonica var. stormiae* for the one on the right - the long, twisted needles fit.

* (should really be Pinus stormiae, but not formally named as such yet)

The one on the left looks a good match for Pinus montezumae, similar to the ones common around the lower to middle slopes of Cerro Potosi, etc. - the commonest pine in the 2000-2400 m altitude range. But it could also be Pinus estevezii, which occurs at lower altitudes (around 1200-1800 m) on the east side of the Sierra Madre Oriental.

The middle one is tricky, close-up pics would help.

"...from Oaxaca, not a good set of cones. Best ones I could pick. Did it just to ID the pines since they were unexpectedly large..."

Hmmm . . . how big is an iPhone?!! (I don't have one!). But if I'm guessing right, those cones are about 8-10 cm long or so? That's actually quite small for Mexican pines. I've got a Pinus devoniana cone 27 cm long that someone gave me from southern Mexico.

Resin

Another thought concerning Perry's book, if it's not to late, be sure to get the hard back edition(original printing/1991) Even in used condition it's ten times the quality of the current paper back reprint.

Here's a pic from Google Earth showing the widespread devestation from the '75 fire. Sierra La Marta is centuries away from healing these scars. Cerro De La Viga can be seen in the far distance(center)

What are the regulations for receiving seeds from Mexico
in the US mail? Do you need an Aphis permit?

NorthTurn

Did you collect any seed?