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LET’S KNOW SOME TREES - 5 
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 seeds of the single- 
leaf pion or pine of dry desert slopes, mainly on the east side of 
the Sierra, that are sold in fruit stores as “ pinon nuts.” (Fig. 4.) 
These are gathéred 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 in only 15 to 20 feet high and has dark brown bark 
and light green needles. This is the only American pine whose 
needles typically 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 pihon, a species whose needles 
usually grow in bundles of 4 but may vary from 2 to 5, is often 
F 236916 
FIGURE 4.—Singleleaf pinon pine (Pinus monophylia) 
hardly more than 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 high desert pine, the bristlecone, is an irregular, bushy tree with 
a short, thick trunk. Its very short needles are usually in fives. 
The cones, about 3 inches long and dark reddish brown when ripe, 
have scales tipped with sharp, slender, curving prickles. 
A rather rare species is the limber pine, found only at high eleva- 
tions. The bark of the young branches is very light, while that of 
the main stem is dark brown. The needles, in bundles of five, grow 
im close masses and are from 11% to 3 inches long on the flexible, 
trailing branches. The green twigs are so limber that they can 
almost be tied into knots without breaking. ‘These trees may be 
found on Mono Pass. The cones, from 4 to 10 inches long, take two 
years to mature—as is the case with most pines—and by early winter 
of their second year have fallen from the tree. 
The foxtail pine, or Balfour pine (fig. 5), grows at or near timber 
line, occurring in small, isolated groups, mainly in the Sierra. The 
