Important Pines of California

There are 19 kinds of native pines of

California

5-Needled Pines of California

whitebark pine Pinus albicaulis

foxtail pine Pinus balfouriana

sugar pine Pinus lambertiana

western white pine Pinus monticola

Torrey pine Pinus torreyana

intermountain bristlecone pine Pinus longaeva

limber pine Pinus flexilis

3-Needled Pines of California

knobcone pine Pinus attenuata

Coulter pine Pinus coulteri

Jeffrey pine Pinus jeffreyi

ponderosa pine Pinus ponderosa

Monterey pine Pinus radiata

ghost, gray, foothill pine Pinus sabiniana

2-Needled Pines of California

lodgepole pine Pinus contorta ssp. murrayana

beach pine Pinus contorta ssp. contorta

Bishop pine Pinus muricata

Pinyons of California

singleleaf pinyon Pinus monophylla

Parry pinyon Pinus quadrifolia

beach pine Pinus contorta ssp. contorta

Bishop pine Pinus muricata

Pine Terms to Know

Fascicle/Bundle

Bundle sheath

Deciduous/Persistent

Cone stalk--peduncle

Cone scale

scale bract

umbo

Seed wing

The seed cone matures in 2 (rarely 3) years.

It is comprised of woody cone scales with

subtending bracts spirally arranged around a

central axis.

The exposed part of each scale has a bump

called an umbo on the back or tip. On some

pines, the umbo will be armed with a prickle.

Seeds occur in at the base of the cone scale

and can be winged or wingless.

5-Needled Pines of California

whitebark pine Pinus albicaulis

sugar pine Pinus lambertiana

western white pine Pinus monticola

Torrey pine Pinus torreyana

intermountain bristlecone pine Pinus longaeva

limber pine Pinus flexilis

Pinus albicaulis, whitebark pine,

“The cones of this pine were so

rare, that…I had for two weeks an

offer…of a dollar for a good cone;

and no one was able to claim the

reward.”

John S. Newberry, MD, 1855

Pinus albicaulis, whitebark pine

Pinus albicaulis, whitebark pine

•scales thick, umbo terminal and armed

•Seeds wingless

•Needles 5, 1-3”, at ends of twigs

•Grows at high elevation

•Cones short-stalked, ovoid-globose, 2-3”, serotinous

Pinus albicaulis, whitebark pine

•Mutualistic relationship with

Clark’s nutcracker

(whitebark dependent upon

the birds for reproduction)

•Cone scales do not open,

just loosen

•Cones are purple and

shiny with resin

•Birds hack them free while

cones still pitchy

Pinus albicaulis, whitebark pine

Whitebark pine is a candidate for listing under the

Endangered Species Act

The Service believes that listing whitebark pine

may be warranted due to disease and predation,

specifically, white pine blister rust and mountain

pine beetle, and the inadequacy of regulatory

mechanisms to address them. These primary

threats are exacerbated by threats from habitat

loss due to changes in forest composition and

fire regimes from fire suppression practices.

Pinus albicaulis, whitebark pine

Whitebark pine is considered

a keystone species because it

regulates runoff by slowing the

progress of snowmelt,

reduces soil erosion by

initiating early succession

after fires and other

disturbances, and provides

seeds that are a high-energy

food source for some birds

and mammals.

Pinus balfouriana, foxtail pine

Cones short-stalked, ovoid, 3-5”, scales thick, umbo with prickle

Needles 5, short, about 1”, branches bushy

Subalpine, above 5000’, lives 2100 yrs

Found near bristlecone and whitebark pines

Pinus balfouriana, foxtail pine

Endemic to

California in

Klamath

Ranges, North

Coast Range,

and southern

Sierra Nevada

Pinus balfouriana, foxtail pine

Pinus lambertiana,

sugar pine

Cones large, long-stalked, cylindrical, 11-20 in

Scales thin, umbo terminal, unarmed

Needles 5, 3-4 in.

Good timber tree, mid-montane, cooler and wetter

Dwarf mistletoe, blister rust, and fire-susceptible

Geographic range of sugar pine

1936, Santa Barbara County.

Photo by Albert Everett Wieslander, courtesy of

the Marian Koshland Bioscience and Natural

Resources Library, University of California,

Berkeley. Note 3 foot scale at base of tree.

Pinus lambertiana,

sugar pine

Longest cones, tallest pine in the world

“Historically, some amazingly large trees were known. The largest

tree ever recorded in Oregon, which contained some splendid trees

until they were all logged out, was the Prospect Giant at 80.8 tall and

400 cm dbh (Frank Callahan email 2011.01.05). The largest ever

recorded, though, was found by David Douglas on the very day that

he discovered this species to science; October 26, 1826. Preparatory

to this account, I should say that Douglas' work has been extensively

reviewed, and he has a reputation for accurately reporting his facts.

In his journal for that day, he writes:

New or strange things seldom fail to make great impressions, and

often at first we are liable to over-rate them; and lest I should never

see my friends to tell them verbally of this most beautiful and

immensely large tree, I now state the dimensions of the largest one I

could find that was blown down by the wind: Three feet [1 m] from the

ground, 57 feet 9 inches in circumference [5.60 m diam.]; 134 feet

[40.84 m] from the ground, 17 feet 5 inches [1.69 m diam.]; extreme

length, 215 feet [65.53 m].“

Sugar Pine info from http://www.conifers.org/

“Although it is not strictly relevant, I will finish the quote, which gives a

good picture of Douglas' life as a plant-hunter:

The trees are remarkably straight; bark uncommonly smooth for such

large timber, of a whitish or light brown colour; and yields a great

quantity of gum of a bright amber colour. The large trees are destitute

of branches, generally for two-thirds the length of the tree; branches

pendulous, and the cones hanging from their points like small sugar-

loaves in a grocer’s shop, it being only on the very largest trees that

cones are seen, and the putting myself in possession of three cones

(all I could) nearly brought my life to an end. Being unable to climb or

hew down any, I took my gun and was busy clipping them from the

branches with ball when eight Indians came at the report of my gun.

They were all painted with red earth, armed with bows, arrows,

spears of bone, and flint knives, and seemed to me anything but

friendly. I endeavoured to explain to them what I wanted and they

seemed satisfied and sat down to smoke,” (cont. on next slide)

had no sooner done so than I perceived one string his bow and

Sugar Pine info from http://www.conifers.org/ (cont.)

“but had no sooner done so than I perceived one string his bow and

another sharpen his flint knife with a pair of wooden pincers and hang

it on the wrist of the right hand, which gave me ample testimony of

their inclination. To save myself I could not do by flight, and without

any hesitation I went backwards six paces and cocked my gun, and

then pulled from my belt one of my pistols, which I held in my left

hand. I was determined to fight for life. As I as much as possible

endeavoured to preserve my coolness and perhaps did so, I stood

eight or ten minutes looking at them and they at me without a word

passing, till one at last, who seemed to be the leader, made a sign for

tobacco, which I said they should get on condition of going and

fetching me some cones. They went, and as soon as out of sight I

picked up my three cones and a few twigs, and made a quick retreat

to my camp, which I gained at dusk."

Sugar Pine info from http://www.conifers.org/ (cont.)

Sugar pine cones on lava flow, Medicine Lake Highlands, eastern

Siskiyou County

Pinus monticola, western white pine

Cones stalked, cylindrical

Umbo terminal, unarmed

Needles 5, 2-4 in, stomate

lines on two sides of needles

White pine blister rust, fire

Typically montane in Calif.,

lower elev. in northern states

Geographic range of western white pine

Pinus monticola, Mt. Eddy, Klamath

Ranges; note ‘dinosaur feet.’

White pine blister rust, Cronartium ribicola

affects five-needle pines

Pinus aristata, Rocky Mtn bristlecone

P. longaeva, Great Basin bristlecone

• Cones short-stalked,

cylindric, 2-4”, scales

thick, with long stiff

prickle

• Needles 5, about 1”

• Very long-lived

(5100 years+)

Pinus torreyana, Torrey pine

Coastal San Diego Co, most

restricted range of any N

American pine; needles 6-12”,

in 5s, cones 4-6”, thick scales

with a straight prickle.

serotinous

Photos by Keir Morse

3-Needled Pines of California

knobcone pine Pinus attenuata

Coulter pine Pinus coulteri

Jeffreyi pine Pinus jeffreyi

ponderosa pine Pinus ponderosa

Monterey pine Pinus radiata

ghost, gray, foothill pine Pinus sabiniana

Pinus ponderosa, ponderosa pine

Needles 3s, 4-7(11)” (raspy when pulled backward)

Cones 2-6”, prickly, umbo dorsal, with stout prickle pointed outward, ‘prickly ponderosa’

Drought resistant, Most important pine of N. America; more timber than any other pine

Pinus ponderosa biology

Adapted to a fire regime:

bark 3 inches thick;

likes mineral seedbed and

brush clearing of low level

fires (competing young firs

killed)

Pinus jeffreyi, Jeffrey pine,

Needles 5-10”, in 3s or 2s

and 3s, twisted

Needles smell of

pineapple to some people

Cones 5-10”, umbo

dorsal, prickle reflexed

(turned inward)—Gentle

Jeffrey

Both ponderosa pine and

Jeffrey pine have jigsaw

puzzle bark.

Pinus jeffreyi, Jeffrey pine

Pinus jeffreyi, Biology

“Diffuse mutualism with rodents and corvids”

Seeds have wings, but are heavy. Most fall within 100 ft. This pine needs the Steller’s jays, Clark’s nutcrackers, yellow pine chipmunk, etc. In one day these animals put most of the seeds in shallow soil caches of 1-5 seeds. That’s how Jeffrey pine reproduces.

Pinus flexilis, limber pine

• Cones short-stalked, ovoid, 3-6”;scales thickened, umbo terminal, unarmed

• Needles 5, 2-3”, clustered at twig tips, white lines on all surfaces

• Also a “bird pine”

Pinus flexilis, limber pine

In California, mostly east of Sierra Crest, at 3000 ft in the north, higher in south

Pinus flexilis, limber pine

• Evolved in Mexico under selection pressure from jays that harvested and cached the largest and least winged seeds!

• Moved north with climate change, and now spread by Clark’s nutcrackers

• “Timber pine” of the Great Basin (used to build Old West saloons, etc, in Nevada)

Pinus flexilis, limber pine

• Shade: intolerant

• Fire: moderately tolerant

• Tree looks like whitebark pine, but cones different; these two hybridize where their ranges overlap

• Food for wildlife, esp. Clark’s nutcracker

Pinus sabiniana,

gray, ghost, foothill pine

• Needles 6-13”, in 3s, gray-

green;

• cones 6-10”, heavy, scales

with irregular umbos, each

ending in a claw;

• Mature trees with split

leader

• Low fringe forests of CA,

susceptible to fire

Pinus sabiniana,

gray, ghost, foothill pine

Restricted to

interior California

foothills of

California

Floristic Province

Gray pine is highly flammable. The needles contain

ether extracts. It is a heavy resin producer, with the

wood, bark, cones, and needle sheaths all

containing pitch.

Gray pine has two adaptations which enable it to

survive fire. First, some large trees will withstand

moderate-severity fire. Mature trees with thick bark

and self-pruned trunks are best able to avoid fatal

scorching. Secondly, seed regeneration is favored

following fire. Fire creates a favorable bare mineral

soil seedbed, and heat scarification of the woody

seedcoat increases germination rates.

Pinus coulteri, Coulter pine

• Needles 6-12”, in 3s, blue-

green;

• cones 8-14 in, heaviest cone

in the world (4-6 lb), umbo

with large curved claw (bear

claw pine)

• Mountains of S. coastal CA;

some populations serotinous

Geographic range of Coulter pine

• Needles 6-12”, in 3s, blue-

green;

• cones 8-14 in, heaviest cone

in the world (4-6 lb), umbo

with large curved claw (bear

claw pine)

• Mountains of S. coastal CA;

some populations serotinous

Pinus radiata, Monterey pine

• Needles 4-6”, 3s or 2s, dark green

• cones 3-5”, asymmetrical, serotinus;

• coastal central CA in the fog belt; common decorative tree; widely planted and produces saw timber around the world

• Told from knobcone by smooth basal scales

Photo courtesy Rick

York and CNPS

Geographic range of Monterey pine

Photo courtesy of St. Mary’s

College of California

Pinus attenuata, knobcone pine

Cone serotinous,

similar to Monterey

pine, but basal

scales prickly

Pinus attenuata, knobcone pine

Cones are sealed with a hard resin that

requires high temperatures (average:

397 degrees Fahrenheit [203 deg C]) to

liquefy, boil, and vaporize. Cone scales

open gradually following heating. The

first seeds fall within 1 to 12 hours after

fire, when the ground has cooled. The

arched scales continue to slowly

expand and drop seed for at least 4

postfire years.

2-Needled Pines of California

lodgepole pine Pinus contorta ssp. murrayana

beach pine Pinus contorta ssp. contorta

Bishop pine Pinus muricata

Pinus contorta ssp. murrayana,

lodgepole pine

Cones small, 1-2”, egg-

shaped, serotinous &

persistent,

umbo with small slender

prickle

Needles in 2s, 1-3”, twisted,

yellow green to dark green

Pinus contorta ssp. murrayana,

lodgepole pine

Pinus contorta ssp. murrayana,

lodgepole pine

Pinyons of California

singleleaf pinyon Pinus monophylla

Parry pinyon Pinus quadrifolia

Pinyon pines, incl. Pinus monophylla,

single-leaf pinyon

Cone short-stalked, ovoid-globose, 1-3”, scales thick, umbo unarmed or small prickle,

Needles 1-5, 1-3”

Seed wingless, used for food, up to 20 lb per tree

Dry pinyon-juniper woodlands

Pinyon pines, incl. Pinus monophylla,

single-leaf pinyon

Kept Fremont’s party from starving

Feed corvids, rodents, bighorn sheep, bears

Used as charcoal to smelt ore; charcoal made in beehive ovens

Pinyon charcoal made in beehive

ovens