Miscellaneous Circular 31, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture 



stay on the tree for years. While not 

 so heavy as those of the Coulter Pine, 

 the cones are of the same type and 

 are much heavier and harder to handle 

 than those of the Western Yellow 

 or the Jeffrey Pine or those of the 

 Sugar Pine, which, though long, are 

 light and without barbs. 



Fig. [.—Coulter Pine (Pinus 

 coulteri) 



The Monterey Pine (fig. 2), often 

 90 to 100 feet in height in sheltered 

 locations, is only 60 to 80 feet high 

 near the coast, and is a distorted, flat- 

 topped dwarf on the rocky points. 

 The needles are 3 to 4 inches long, 

 in bunches of three, the bark is dark 

 and ridgy, and the closed cones hang 

 for years on the tree. This tree is 

 easily transplanted and grows readily 

 from seed, and hence is used to hold 

 drifting sands. Although of no tim- 

 ber value in California at present, it 

 has been largely planted in Australia 

 for box lumber. 



The Indians often break the nuts 

 and eat the seed of the Digger Pine of 

 the foothills, and they prize the nuts 

 of the Sugar Pine that " float " out of 

 the opening cones from high up on the 

 trees and are hard to locate when they 

 reach the ground. But it is the seed 

 of the Single-leaf Pine of dry desert 

 slopes, mainly on the east side of the 

 Sierras, that are sold in fruit stores 

 as " pihon nuts." These are gathered 

 in quantity by piling the cones when 

 they are mature but still closed in 

 great stacks and opening them by a 

 slow fire. The tree is only 15 to 20 

 feet high, and has dark brown bark 

 and light green needles. This is the 



only American pine whose needles 

 grow singly, not in bundles. These 

 needles are plentiful, however, and the 

 low trees or bushes are thickset and 

 solid. 



Another food pine, the Parry Pine, 

 a species whose needles grow in 

 bundles of four, is merely a large 

 bush of the desert slopes in southern 

 and Lower California. The bark is 

 reddish-brown, the nuts very good to 

 eat, but the tree is too scarce to count 

 for much. 



A desert pine, the Bristlecone, is 

 an irregular, bushy tree with a short, 

 thick trunk. Its needles are usually 



Fig. 2.— Monterey Pine (Pinus 



RADIATA) 



in fives. The cones, about 3 inches long 

 and dark reddish-brown when ripe, 

 have scales tipped with sharp, thin 

 bristles. 



A rather rare species is the Limber 

 Pine, found only at high elevations. 

 The bark of the young branches is 

 very light while that of the main stem 



