science

Pinus driftwoodensis

Pinus driftwoodensis is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Pinus driftwoodensis rather than just read about it. In short: Pinus driftwoodensis is an extinct species of conifer in the pine family solely known from early Eocene sediments exposed in south central British Columbia. The species was described from an isolated fossil ovulate cone associated with a series of wood, needles and pollen cones in chert.

Key takeaways

Pinus driftwoodensis belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Pinus driftwoodensis to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Pinus driftwoodensis from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Pinus driftwoodensis is an extinct species of conifer in the pine family solely known from early Eocene sediments exposed in south central British Columbia. The species was described from an isolated fossil ovulate cone associated with a series of wood, needles and pollen cones in chert. P. driftwoodensis was the eighth pine species to be described from a permineralized ovulate cone and the second from the Okanagan highlands (after Pinus arnoldii).

History and classification Pinus driftwoodensis has been identified from a single location, the type locality, at the Driftwood Canyon exposure of Ootsa Lake Group sediments near Smithers, British Columbia in the Driftwood Canyon Provincial Park. The Driftwood Canyon location is currently considered to be Early Eocene in age, based on Uranium-lead radiometric dating which yielded an age of 51.77 ± 0.34 million years ago. Sediments at Driftwood canyon are interpreted as preserving a lacustrian upland flora and fauna with the chert blocks being found in a small coal and chert lens interbedded with Oostsa Lake group shales. The species was described from a single type specimen, the holotype specimen S5446, which is currently preserved in the University of Alberta paleobotanical collections in Edmonton, Alberta. Specimen S5446 is a block of chert which preserves the ovulate cone, two types of needle foliage, several branch segments, and several small pollen cone. The specimen were studied by paleobotanist Ruth A. Stockey of the University of Alberta. She published her 1983 type description for P. driftwoodensis in the journal Botanical Gazette. In her type description she did not note the etymology for the specific epithet driftwoodensis.

Description The ovulate cone of Pinus driftwoodensis is rounded with a pointed tip with an overall length of 3–4 centimetres (1.2–1.6 inches) by 2.7 cm (1.1 in) wide and was missing the base before preservation occurred. Based on the interrolling of the cone scales on the basal preserved area of the cone indicates the missing section to be no more the 1 cm (0.39 in). P. driftwoodensis notably differs from the coeval P. arnoldi in the structure of the pith cells. P. arnoldi has a pith composed of sclerenchymatous cells, found in the modern Pinus subsections Contortae, Oocarpae, and Sylvestres. P. driftwoodensis, in contrast, has a parenchymatous pith, seen in the modern Pinus subsections Australes, Ponderosae, and Sabinianae. The cone scales are 1.8 cm (0.71 in) high by 1.2 cm (0.47 in) with a rhomboidal shape and inflated dorsal umbo at the scale tip which do not show evidence of a spine. Each scale bears two ovules 2 millimetres (0.079 in) in diameter on its upper surface.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Pinus driftwoodensis

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Pinus driftwoodensis claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Pinus driftwoodensis before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Pinus driftwoodensis ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Pinus driftwoodensis

In research: Pinus driftwoodensis appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Pinus driftwoodensis in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Pinus driftwoodensis is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Eocene plants, Extinct flora of North America, Flora of British Columbia, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Pinus driftwoodensis outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Pinus driftwoodensis in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Pinus driftwoodensis means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Pinus driftwoodensis out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Pinus driftwoodensis in simple terms?

Why does Pinus driftwoodensis matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Pinus driftwoodensis?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Pinus driftwoodensis.