Identification: another ID request...unrecognized pine tree

The forum is back not a moment too soon! On my recent travels, I spotted this unusual pine tree in an abandoned garden. It has dense pendulous needles and somewhat distinctive bark.

 

My wild guess:
Shortleaf Pine (Pinus echinata)
https://bplant.org/compare/148-153

 

Sorry, not Shortleaf. Any more pics, please? Ideally close-ups of the foliage, and cones if any. My provisional guess, which may well change with close-ups, is Pinus × schwerinii.

 

The bark on the photo above is very different (color, texture etc) from the bark of a Pinus × schwerinii:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:(ms)_Pinus_×_schwerinii_6.jpg

If there was a photo of a cone and close up of needles, then maybe there was no need for guesiing.

 

I'm sorry I didn't think to get cones or needles from the ground. I was quasi-trespassing and in a hurry. This is 'muricah, you can get shot for that ;-)
Pines are hardly a favorite of mine other than the obvious high-end ornamentals like P. bungeana. That being said, I've never seen one that looks quite like this. P. X schwerinii seems more plausible to me. But indeed the bark isn't quite a match. Totally far fetched supposition - could this be a hybrid involving P. patula? The droop of the needles was distinctive, but indeed P. wallichiana is one of the only other species that can contribute that look.
Sorta close-up of the drooping of the needles:

 

Thanks! Agree the bark is odd, but the foliage has very much the looks of a white pine (Pinus sect. Strobus). I fear any Pinus patula involvement is highly unlikely, too, particularly if this is in Maryland.

Can you add the location, please? It might well help if it can be seen on google street view.

 

It definitely can't be seen on street view! I agree a pure P. patula wouldn't be hardy in Maryland, but in theory it could hybridize with other Subsection Australes pines. However the only known ones seem to be with other tender pines, cf: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hybridization_in_pines
So I think on balance this is probably just P. x schwerinii. Also that would be commercially available in past decades...this garden was locally notable but not the garden of some kind of renowned expert on conifers like the recently deceased Tom Cox, where I could imagine some totally one-of-a-kind hybrid existing. It did have several other nice rarities but this is the only one I couldn't immediately ID.

 

Thanks! If you get any chance to re-visit, it'll be interesting to see more of it!

 

Michael - there's a Pine cultivar I've heard of for years but never had the chance to see. Called Pinus 'Mercury'. It is supposedly wallichiana x parviflora. Any chance it could be that? Anyhow, through my google skullduggery I was able to find a list of plants this nursery was growing in the early 2000s. It's an abandoned nursery site. (Of course, not every 'mother plant' on the property would have been propagated, so he might not have listed 'Mercury' even if he had a plant.) So could it have been any of these?


PINUS CEMBRA

Blue Mound
Chalet
Columnaris
Nana
Pygmaea
Silver Sheen

PINUS CONTORTA

Spaan's Dwarf

PINUS DENSIFLORA

Aurea
Globosa
Heavy Bud
Oculus-Draconis
Pendula
Prostrata
Umbraculifera
Umbraculifera Heavy Fruiter
Umbraculifera Rata
Umbraculifera Special

PINUS EDULIS



PINUS FLEXILIS

Glauca
Bergman's Dwarf
Compacta
Fastigiata
Glauca Pendula
Glauca Prostrata
Globosa
Reflexa
Temple
Vanderwolf's Pyramid

PINUS HAKKODENSIS

(Parviflora X Pumila)

PINUS KORAIENSIS

Morris Blue
14-16'
16-18'
Nana
Oculus-Draconis
Sis

PINUS LEUCODERMIS

Aurea Spicata
Compact Gem

PINUS MUGO

Gnome
Prostrate
Pygmy
Sherwoodi
Spaan
Valley Cushion
Winter Gold

PINUS NIGRA

Contorta
Hornibrookiana
Monstrosa

PINUS PARVIFLORA

Bergman #1,#2,#3
4-5'
5-6'
6-8'
Brevifolia
5-6'
6-8'
8-10'
Nana
5-6'
6-8'
8-10'
Adcock' Dwarf
Baldwin
Brevifolia Nana
Compacta
Emperor
Fukumusume Goyo
Gimborn's Ideal
Gimborn's Pyramid
Glauca
Glauca Nana
Glauca Wells
Glauca Yatsubusa
Hai-Matsu
Hatzumarigoyo
Hime-Goyo-Matsu
Humilis
Levy
Nana
Nasu Musume
Nazi
Pentaphylla 'Aizui'
Pentaphylla Megishi
Pentaphylla Miyazima
Pentaphylla Nashi
Pentaphylla Shiobara
Pentaphylla #2
Pumila Glauca
Shiko-Goyo
Tama-Yon-Go-Goyo
Templehof
Watson
Yatsubusa
Yatsubusa Pygmy

PINUS PUECE



PINUS PUMILA

Dwarf
Dwarf Blue
Nana

PINUS STROBUS

Contorta
Nana
5-6'
6-8'
8-10'
Pendula
14-16'
16-18'
A.B.
Alba
Amelia's Dwarf
Bennett Broom
Bennett Clump Leaf
Bennett Contorted
Bennett Weirdo
Bergman's Broom
Bergman's Monstrosa Broom
Bergman's Variegated
Compacta
Contorta Nana
Densa
Dove's Dwarf
Fastigiata
Flat Top
Helen
HersheyiiBroom
Hillside Gem
Hillside Winter Gold
Horsford
Laird's Broom
Macopin
Millstream
Minima
Minima Bronx
Minima Martin's
Nana Bayard
Nivea
Ontario
Prostrata
Pseudo-Monophylla
Pumila
Radiata
Rarflora Glauca Nana
Umbraculifera
Witch's Broom
Wyandanch

PINUS SYLVESTRIS

Viridis Compacta
4-5'
5-6'
6-8'
Aurea
Barrie Bergman
Bergman #2
Beuvronensis
Compacta
Glauca Nana
Globosa Viridis
Nana
Pygmaea
Raraflora Brevifolia
Repens
Saxatilis
Watereri
Watereri Compacta Nana

 

Thanks! This list is from the garden is where you took the pics? Of that list, Pinus koraiensis is a good option - I did a search for Pinus koraiensis bark and found one or two pics that weren't too far different (though others less so!), and the foliage fits OK. It would also explain the lack of any cones in your photo, as (being a bird-dispersed pine) the cones are all gone by spring, when most other white pines still have old cones evident in the crown.

 

Yeah the nursery was at its prime back in the 2000s, and perhaps open but in decline for a few years after that. Now the land will be developed for McMansions.

There is some similarity in the density of the crown. Thanks again.

https://plants.chaletnursery.com/12120004/Plant/14103/Korean_Pine/

 

That's sad . . . wonder if any of the trees will be kept?

 

I suppose it's possible. I plan to check back in a year or two.