Torrey Pines: Coastal Survivors

It's April 25, I'm Cory with the story, this is California News Today, driven by AI.

April marks World Habitat Awareness Month, so let's dive into the Torrey Pine, the

rarest native pine in the United States.

This tree only grows wild in two spots, Santa Rosa Island off the coast and a patch in

San Diego.

With its gray green needles and clusters of five, big woody cones packing edible seeds

and that wide open crown, it's built tough for coastal life.

And work has turned things around big time.

Wild numbers dipped as low as 100 trees, but bounce back to about 3,000, thanks to protection

efforts.

It's listed as endangered by California folks and critically endangered worldwide, yet

it thrives as a go-to landscape pick.

The Torrey Pine State Natural Reserve stands out as a wild haven amid city sprawl, safeguarding

not just the pines, but rare salt marshes and bird.

Spots too.

Backcliffs, deep ravines and wind-shaped trees draw hikers on trails with spring wild

flowers and quail cubbies adding to the vine.

No picnics are camping allowed to keep it pristine.

On Santa Rosa Island, the trees form a distinct subspecies, shorter, bushier, with thicker

bark and rounder cones, thanks to thousands of years.

Isolated.

Debate rages on how they got there.

Bird-carried seeds, ocean drifts, or ancient chumas seafarers planting them up to 13,000

years back.

Even for botanist John Torrey back in 1850, the year California joined the union.

These pines highlight how climate shifts dry things out.

Molinia go, shrinking their range, protecting them now keeps this coastal survivor rooting

strong for the future.