ABSTRACT
This chapter provides information on the uses, folk medicine, chemistry, germplasm, distribution, ecology, cultivation, harvesting, yields, energy, and biotic factors of Parry's Pine-Nut. Nuts, which are rich in proteins, are used as an important food supply by Mexicans and Indians, in Lower California especially. Seeds are eaten raw or in confections under name of pignolia. Trees are used in environmental forestry, as watershed, and as habitat or food for wildlife. According to J. L. Hartwell, the ointment derived from the pitch is said to be a folk remedy for external cancers. Parry's pine-nut is reported to tolerate drought, heat, poor soil, and slope. Nuts have good keeping qualities and unshelled pinon nuts can be stored for 3 years without becoming rancid. Seeds may be collected by shaking the tree and collecting seeds on a cloth spread on the ground. Historically, the wood, the cones, the needles, and the pitches and resins of pines have been used as energy sources.
