Pinus nelsonii, Nelson's pinyon, is a species of pine native to the mountains of northeastern Mexico, in Nuevo León, San Luis Potosàand Tamaulipas at 1,800âÂÂ3,200 m altitude.
It is a small tree growing to 10 m tall with a trunk up to 20âÂÂ30 cm diameter. The crown is rounded and dense, and resembles that of the unrelated Pinus pinea from the western Mediterranean. The needles are produced in fascicles of three (occasionally four), but 'zipped' together by their finely serrated margins so that they look like a single needle; they can only be separated by force. They are 4âÂÂ8 (rarely 10) cm long and 0.7âÂÂ1 mm thick, sub-shiny dark green in colour, with a persistent grey basal sheath 7âÂÂ9 mm long. The cones are cylindrical, 6âÂÂ12 cm long and 4âÂÂ5 cm broad, orange-brown to red-brown colour, with 60âÂÂ100 scales with large but indistinct umbos, and carried on a stout downcurved peduncle 3âÂÂ6 cm long. Unlike all other pines, their growth while immature does not pause during the first winter. The seeds are large, 12âÂÂ15 mm, red-brown. The cones mature in November after rain season. It grows in a semi-arid temperate climate with summer rainfall and is very drought-tolerant.
The seeds are edible and delicious, and are very appreciated by people in the region. They are so valuable that they are transported to the markets of Mexico City. Because of its seeds, it has been very devastated by people. Only recently it has been cultivated outside its native range, grown more for its botanical curiosity than for ornamental values.
The scientific name is occasionally cited incorrectly as Pinus nelsoni; the correct ending is -ii.
It has very singular characteristics and is not closely related to any other pines in either morphology or genetics. It is placed in subgenus Strobus either in its own section Nelsonia or subsection Nelsoniae.