Re: What are the longest Pine needles in the world?

The Flora of North America says there are about 100 species of pine and
describes 37 species native to North America. None of the 37 has longer needles
than longleaf pine but Apache pine (Pinus engelmannii) is listed with a maximum
needle length of 45 cm, the same as longleaf pine (Pinus palustris). 

However, Christopher J. Earle of www.conifers.org believes that Pinus palustris
has the longest needles:

"Somewhere I saw an old, old citation of Pin. palustris near Rockingham, NC as
having needles up to 24 in. long, which is 60 cm, but I've been to Rockingham
several times looking for them and never found those trees.  Perhaps not
surprising since P. palustris has seen a 97% range reduction in the past 200
years.  This question of longest needles is really not one closely tracked by
botanists.  In theory, floras (like the Flora of North America, which gives 45
cm for both palustris and engelmannii) are supposed to cite needle lengths on
the basis of herbarium specimens. They don't always do so, though, and legacy
information from past and possibly unreliable accounts can creep in.  This makes
it tricky to compare results from different authors.  I think that for a
question like this the best comparison is probably that provided in the
comprehensive table of characters in the first chapter of Richardson's book
"Ecology and Biogeography of Pinus" which gives the record to P. palustris at 45
cm, closely followed by Mexico's P. nubicola at 43 cm; then there are a variety
of species credited with 35 cm including P. engelmannii, P. devoniana and P.
douglasiana, all of which are primarily Mexican.  There are many species that
have 30 cm needles." 

References


Pinus in Flora of North America


Pinus


Pinus at USDA Plants Database