Ponderosa Pine
Pinus ponderosa subsp. ponderosa branch with cones Pinus ponderosa subsp. ponderosa branch with cones
Conservation status
Least Concern
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Pinophyta Class: Pinopsida Order: Pinales Family: Pinaceae Genus: Pinus Subgenus: Pinus Species: P. ponderosa
Binomial name
Pinus ponderosa Douglas ex C. Lawson
Range map of Pinus ponderosa and Pinus arizonica Range map of Pinus ponderosa and Pinus arizonica

Ponderosa Pine (Pinus ponderosa), sometimes called Bull Pine or Western Yellow Pine, is a widespread and variable pine native to western North America. It was first described by David Douglas in 1826, from eastern Washington near present-day Spokane.

Modern forestry research identifies four different taxa of Ponderosa Pine, with differing botanical characters and adapted to different climatic conditions. These have been termed "geographic races" in forestry literature, while some botanists historically treated them as distinct species. In modern botanical usage, they best match the rank of subspecies, but not all of the relevant botanical combinations have been formally published.

The bark of the Ponderosa Pine has a smell similar to vanilla^[1]. Its needles are the only known food of the caterpillars of the gelechiid moth Chionodes retiniella.

Subspecies

1. Pinus ponderosa subsp. ponderosa Douglas ex C. Lawson - North Plateau Ponderosa Pine.
2. *Range & climate: southeast British Columbia, Washington and Oregon east of the Cascade Range, northeast California, northwestern Nevada, Idaho and western Montana. Cool, relatively moist summers; very cold, snowy winters (except in the very hot and very dry summers of central Oregon, most notably near Bend, which also has very cold and generally dry winters).
3. Pinus ponderosa subsp. scopulorum (Engelm.) E. Murray - Rocky Mountains Ponderosa Pine.
4. *Range & climate: eastern Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Nebraska, northern and central Colorado and Utah, and eastern Nevada. Warm, relatively dry summers; very cold, fairly dry winters.
5. Pinus brachyptera Engelm. - Southwestern Ponderosa Pine
6. *Range & climate: southern Colorado, southern Utah, northern and central New Mexico and Arizona, and westernmost Texas. The Gila Wilderness contains one of the world's largest and healthiest forests.^[2] Hot, relatively moist summers; mild winters.
7. Pinus benthamiana Hartw. - Pacific Ponderosa Pine
8. *Range & climate: Washington and Oregon west of the Cascade Range, California except for the northeast, and just into westernmost Nevada. Hot, dry summers; mild wet winters.

The distributions of the subspecies, and that of the closely related Arizona Pine (Pinus arizonica) are shown on the map. The numbers on the map correspond to the taxon numbers above and in the table below. The base map of the species range is from Critchfield & Little, Geographic Distribution of the Pines of the World, USDA Forest Service Miscellaneous Publication 991 (1966).

Before the distinctions between the North Plateau race and the Pacific race were fully documented, most botanists assumed that Ponderosa Pines in both areas were the same. So when two botanists from California found a distinct tree in western Nevada in 1948 with some marked differences from the Ponderosa Pine they were familiar with in California, they described it as a new species, Washoe Pine, Pinus washoensis. However, subsequent research has shown that this is merely a southern outlier of the typical North Plateau race of Ponderosa Pine.

Table of characters distinguishing the subspecies of Pinus ponderosa and Pinus arizonica

Taxon	1 North Plateau	2 Rocky Mts	3 Southwest	4 Pacific		5 Arizona	6 Storm's
Character	(ponderosa)	(scopulorum)	(brachyptera)	(benthamiana)		(arizonica)	(stormiae)
Needles per fascicle	3	2-3	2-3	3		4-5	3-5
Needle length	10-22 cm	8-17 cm	12-21 cm	15-30 cm		12-22 cm	20-30 cm
Needle thickness	1.7-2.2 mm	1.5-1.7 mm	1.6-1.9 mm	1.3-1.7 mm		1.0-1.1 mm	1.0-1.2 mm
Cone length	5-11 cm	5-9 cm	5-10 cm	7-16 cm		5-9 cm	6-11 cm
Cone scale width	14-19 mm	16-20 mm	14-19 mm	18-23 mm		15-18 mm	12-17 mm
Immature cone colour	purple	green	green	green		green	green
Mature cone surface	matte	matte	glossy	glossy		glossy	matte
Seedwing to seed length ratio	1.9-2.5	2.1-3.4	3.0-3.5	3.0-4.7		2.8-3.2	3.0-3.5
Max tree height	50 m	40 m	50 m	70 m		35 m	20 m
USDA hardiness zone	4	4	6	7		7	8

Notes:
Taxon numbers refer to the map
Needles per fascicle - the most frequent number is in bold
Seedwing : seed length ratio - high numbers indicate a small seed with a long wing; low numbers a large seed with a short seedwing

Ponderosa Pine image gallery

P. benthamiana, Lassen Volcanic National Park	P. benthamiana bark detail, Yosemite National Park	P. benthamiana buds, Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument	P. benthamiana branch, LVNP
P. ponderosa subsp. ponderosa cones, Klamath Basin National Wildlife Refuges Complex	P. ponderosa subsp. ponderosa bark, Idaho	A mature P. ponderosa subsp. ponderosa with younger individuals	Young P. benthamiana, Yosemite National Park

Notes

References

• Conifer Specialist Group (1998). Pinus ponderosa. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 12 May 2006.
• Baumgartner, D. M. & Lotan, J. E. (eds.) (1988). Ponderosa Pine the species and its management. Symposium proceedings. Cooperative Extension, Washington State University.
• Conkle, M. T. & Critchfield, W. B. (1988). Genetic Variation and Hybridization of Ponderosa Pine. Pp. 27-44 in Baumgartner, D. M. & Lotan, J. E. (eds.).
• Critchfield, W. B. (1984). Crossability and relationships of Washoe Pine. Madroño 31: 144-170.
• Farjon, A. (2nd ed., 2005). Pines. Brill, Leiden & Boston. ISBN 90-04-13916-8.
• Haller, J. R. (1961). Some recent observations on Ponderosa, Jeffrey and Washoe Pines in Northeastern California. Madroño 16: 126-132.
• Haller, J. R. (1965). Pinus washoensis in Oregon: taxonomic and evolutionary implications. Amer. J. Bot. 52: 646.
• Haller, J. R. (1965). The role of 2-needle fascicles in the adaptation and evolution of Ponderosa Pine. Brittonia 17: 354-382.
• Lauria, F. (1991). Taxonomy, systematics, and phylogeny of Pinus subsection Ponderosae Loudon (Pinaceae). Alternative concepts. Linzer Biol. Beitr. 23 (1): 129-202.
• Lauria, F. (1996). The identity of Pinus ponderosae Douglas ex C.Lawson (Pinaceae). Linzer Biol. Beitr. 28 (2): 99-1052.
• Lauria, F. (1996). Typification of Pinus benthamiana Hartw. (Pinaceae), a taxon deserving renewed botanical examination. Ann. Naturhist. Mus. Wien 98 (B Suppl.): 427-446.
• Smith, R. H. (1977). Monoterpenes of Ponderosa Pine xylem resin. USDA Tech. Bull. 1532.
• Smith, R. H. (1981). Variation in Immature Cone Color of Ponderosa Pine (Pinaceae) inNorthern California and Southern Oregon. Madroño 28: 272-274.
• Van Haverbeke, D. F. (1986). Genetic Variation in Ponderosa Pine: A 15-Year Test of Provenances in the Great Plains. USDA Forest Service Research Paper RM-265.
• Wagener, W. W. (1960). A comment on cold susceptibility of Ponderosa and Jeffrey Pines. Madroño 15: 217-219.
• Gymnosperm Database: Pinus ponderosa
• USDA Plants Profile: Pinus ponderosa