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bull pine, ponderosa pine, western yellow pine

Habit Large forest tree up to 70 m. tall.
Bark

Bark thick, that of younger trees deeply furrowed and dark reddish-brown or blackish, gradually changing to cinnamon-red in older trees, divided into large plates that freely flake off.

Leaves

Needles usually in clusters of 3 toward the branch ends, 12-20 cm. long, yellowish-green, on spur branches that are ultimately deciduous with the needles.

Cones

Staminate cones yellow to purplish, strongly clustered, crowded at the base of shoots of the current season; ovulate cones near the branch tips, reddish-purple when young, sub-sessile, nearly horizontal, becoming reddish-brown, then brown when mature, broadly ovate, 8-14 cm. long, the scales chocolate-brown, with a thickened, yellowish-brown, strongly prickly tip.

Pinus ponderosa

Pinus rigida

Habitat Mostly dry areas in open forests at low to middle elevations.
Distribution
Occurring mostly east of the Cascades crest in Washington; British Columbia to Baja California, east to the Great Plains.
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Origin Native
Conservation status Not of concern
Sibling taxa
P. albicaulis, P. contorta, P. monticola
P. albicaulis, P. contorta, P. monticola, P. ponderosa
Subordinate taxa
P. ponderosa var. ponderosa
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