Mystery Pine (or JBP?)

[TacomaBonsai95]

Keeping it short, I bought this pine tree as JBP with other JBP from the same place. This tree has 3 needles per fascicle. Any thoughts would be appreciated!

 

[Shibui]

JBP have 2 needles so that one is highly unlikely to be JBP.
Pretty sure all 3 needle pines are American species so maybe some locals will provide a list or you may be able to search for a list of 3 needle species so you will know what it might be.

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

Pinus rigida has three needles per fascicle.
But many two needle pines can do three when they're stressed. I've had three needle fascicles on scots pines, so just to be sure you might want to wait another year to see what it produces.

 

[Lynn E]

Looks like pitch pine

 

[TacomaBonsai95]

Thanks everyone! I should have mentioned that some of the needles are 2 per fascicle on this pine as well. It's definitely not a ponderosa, which is this seedling here.

 

[TacomaBonsai95]

I was mistaken on there being 2 needle fascicle bundles, these were just ones with a broken needle. I really hope it's pitch pine! I feel like a father waiting to hear if I'm having a boy or a girl

 

[Shibui]

The seedling is still very young. Still lots of juvenile needles present. Pines, like many other species, can look quite different during the juvenile stages. I've never heard of the needle numbers changing but needle length can vary so it is fraught to try to pin an ID on very young trees without some other evidence.
I'd just be growing this one on until it settles down and starts to develop some other characteristics like bark and reliable adult foliage.

 

[Potawatomi13]

JBP have 2 needles so that one is highly unlikely to be JBP.
Pretty sure all 3 needle pines are American species so maybe some locals will provide a list or you may be able to search for a list of 3 needle species so you will know what it might be.

While likely NOT this tree Lacebark, Chir, Canary Is Pine are foreign 3 needles.

 

[Potawatomi13]

Keeping it short, I bought this pine tree as JBP with other JBP from the same place. This tree has 3 needles per fascicle. Any thoughts would be appreciated!View attachment 470209View attachment 470210

Ask seller if 3 needles in their garden?

 

[TacomaBonsai95]

They were with lots of other small starts of Asian varieties like Japanese larch and other rare pines. Maybe mine got mixed up with the others. I'm gonna go back to the nursurey today and do some investigating

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Nurseries in the Pacific Northwest do often offer lacebark pine, pinus bungeana, as it is a fantastic landscape pine. It does look like my bungeana seedlings. The medium green with out "glaucus" white wax is normal for bungeana, but not unique to bungeana. If it is bungeana, when trunk approaches 4 inches diameter bark will begin exfoliating, a trait unique to bungeana

 

[TacomaBonsai95]

Nurseries in the Pacific Northwest do often offer lacebark pine, pinus bungeana, as it is a fantastic landscape pine. It does look like my bungeana seedlings. The medium green with out "glaucus" white wax is normal for bungeana, but not unique to bungeana. If it is bungeana, when trunk approaches 4 inches diameter bark will begin exfoliating, a trait unique to bungeana

Here's the terminal bud. It's reddish brown.

 

[Potawatomi13]

That looks like 2 needles.

 

[TacomaBonsai95]

That looks like 2 needles.

I guess some fascicles are in 2's and some in 3's then haha

 

[TacomaBonsai95]

I'm starting to think this is a shortleaf pine (Pinus echinata) due to the presence of both 2 and 3 needle fascicles.

 

[TacomaBonsai95]

Alright, I brought the mystery pine inside into my grow tent to give a bump start before spring. Quite drastic changes are occurring lol. Needles still mixed in fascicles of 2 and 3, even on the newest needles.

 

[leus]

Thats looks like a Radiata (Monterrey pine). Single needles don’t have a fascicle but looks like they grow right from the bark. It’s a two-needle pine. Here’s mine:

 

[TacomaBonsai95]

Here's a close up of the 3 needle fascicles.

 

[TacomaBonsai95]

Here's the roots of the mystery pine. I repotted into 50% perlite 25% pine bark 25% super rich soil blend i make with guano, kelp, oyster shell, etc... i upped the particle size to encourage finer roots. Also, I put it in a fabric grow bag that's supposed to prune the roots similar to air pruning.

 

[TacomaBonsai95]

Lots of branching going on.. Hopefully the trunk thickens up nicely from it.