Pinus coulteri - Coulter Pine, Big Cone Pine
Pinus coulteri is noted for its large cones and long needles. The needles are gray green and come in bundles of three and can grow 6-12 inches long. Pinus coulteri grows to 80 feet tall in good conditions and the trunk can get to 3 feet in diameter. I like the thick carpet of needles that develops under the trees. The carpet of pine needles can be enough to suppress weeds if it is allowed to accumulate. The cones are large enough to cause real damage, sitting under these trees in a windstorm when the cones are ripe begs one to question your reasoning. Like most evergreens the Coulter Pine burns well if there is a fire and should not be included in a part of the landscape where wildfire danger is an issue. Pinus coulteri is quite drought tolerant once established. I have kept a bonsai version of the Coulter Pine in a one gallon container for years. The Pinus coulteri is native to the coast ranges and inland mountains of Southern California from an elevation of 1000-7000 feet.
Pine cones and long pine needles of Pinus coulteri - Coulter Pine. High resolution photos are part of our garden image collection.
Other plants from the Genus Pinus featured on this site:
Pinus monophylla