The Tree

This stately monarch of the forest attains a height of 125 to 280 feet and a diameter of from three to seven feet. It grows in open stands or clean “parks” in the higher mountain elevations of the west. It is a beautiful pine with a high massive trunk conspicuous by the light yellowish-brown to cinnamon-red scaly bark on the old mature trees. On the young trees the bark is lightly furrowed into smaller scales and is of a dark blackish-brown color. The cones are three to six inches long and two to three inches in diameter. The gray-green to deep yellow-green needles five to ten inches long, borne mostly in bundles of three, form clusters at the branch tips, within which the cones form. The limbs are large and staunch. The tree is hardy, requires deep rich soil and considerable moisture, and is usually found on mountain slopes at elevations of from 4000 to 12,000 feet. It is seriously damaged by forest fires. Over-grazing also damages the seedlings and young trees. It is attacked by bark beetles and a defoliation insect known as “pine butterfly,” and mistletoe appears to thrive on it in some localities. This tree was long commonly known as Bull Pine and Big Pine because of its stately size; Black Jack Pine because of the dark bark of the younger trees; Yellow Pine because of the yellowish color of the mature trunks; and Ponderosa Pine because of its ponderous bulk, which name is now its Official common name.
It is the recognized but unofficial State tree of Montana.

The Stately Ponderosa Pine

Ponderosa Pine Cone

Common Names in Use

• Ponderosa Pine (trade)
• Oregon Pine (trade)
• Arizona Soft Pine (trade)
• Oregon White Pine (trade)
• Arizona White Pine (trade)
• Pitch Pine
• Big Pine (Mont.)
• Ponderosa Pine (trade)
• Bull Pine (Calif., Wash., Utah., Red Pine Idaho, Oreg., Colo.)
• Rocky Mountain Yellow Pine (lit.)
• California WhitePine (trade)
• Foothills Yellow Pine
• “Gambler Parry’s Pine” (Eng., lit.)
• Heavy Pine (Calif.)
• Heavy-wooded Pine (Eng.)
• Sierra Brownbark Pine (lit.)
• Western Pine (trade)
• Western Pitch Pine
• Western Soft Pine (trade)
• Western White Pine (trade)

Growth Range

Ponderosa Pine grows in quite open park-like stands from British Columbia southward into northern Mexico and from the Rocky Mountains of Montana to western Texas. It is found in every State west of the Great Plains, on well-drained slopes up to elevations of 12,000 feet.

The Wood

Ponderosa Pine wood varies considerably in texture, resin content and color, depending upon location and forest environment. It is strong, moderately hard, fine straight-grained, light in weight, not stiff, very uniform but somewhat coarse in texture and more or less resinous. The heartwood is light yellowish tan-red to reddish Or orange-brown with a moderately wide sapwood of pale yellow to nearly white. It is easily glued and worked with tools and takes a good finish. The wood stays in place with little shrinkage when well seasoned.

Uses

This pine provides high grade lumber in great quantity for general use ranging from high quality mill work and cabinet work to rough construction; sash, doors, mouldings, blinds, interior trim, paneling, boxes, fruit crates, caskets, furniture, fixtures, toys, dairy and poultry supplies, pattern making and many other important uses of softwoods, ranking high with the White Pines in this respect.

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