PINES OF SAN DIEGO COUNTY MOUNTAINS

There are a number of pine species found in the mountains of San Diego County.  The most common are Coulter Pine, Sugar Pine, Jeffrey Pine, and Ponderosa Pine.

Click on the thumbnails below to see larger pictures!

COULTER PINE - Pinus coulteri

Height

 40 - 80 feet

Bark

 Dark brown; almost black from a distance

Needle

 Bundles of 3;  6 - 12 inches long

Cone

Extremely large;  9 - 15 inches long

coulter.jpg (99133 bytes)   coulter1.jpg (78748 bytes)   coultercone.jpg (114049 bytes)

 

SUGAR PINE - Pinus lambertiana

Height

 Up to 200 feet.  The tallest pine species

Bark

 Furrowed, platy, reddish brown/cinnamon

Needle

 Bundles of 5;  3 inches long

Cone

Extremely large;  10 - 20 inches

sugar.jpg (91255 bytes) sugarneedle.jpg (97372 bytes)  sugarcone.jpg (102804 bytes)

 

JEFFREY PINE - Pinus jeffreyi

Height

 Up to 175 feet

Bark

 Platy, reddish-brown.  Smells like vanilla

Needle

 Bundles of 3;  5 - 10 inches long

Cone

Prickles curve in.  5 - 10 inches long

jeffrey.jpg (194995 bytes) jeffreybark.jpg (121899 bytes) jeffreycone.jpg (191148 bytes)

 

PONDEROSA PINE - Pinus ponderosa

Height

 90 - 130 feet

Bark

 Platy.  Lighter than Jeffrey bark.

Needle

 Bundles of 3;  5 - 10 inches long

Cone

Prickles curve out.  3 - 6 inches long

ponderosa.jpg (201664 bytes) pondbark.jpg (205903 bytes) pondcone.jpg (50845 bytes) pondcone2.jpg (96717 bytes)

 

Photo Credits: 

Brother Alfred Brousseau, St. Mary's College
Charles Webber, California Academy of Sciences
Jed and Bonnie McClellan, California Academy of Sciences
Gerald and Buff Corsi, California Academy of Sciences