Pinus attenuata

Knobcone pine

Family: Pinaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Knobcone pine is a California native tree found in northwestern California, the California Cascade Range, Sierra Nevada, eastern San Francisco Bay Area, southern Coast Ranges, San Bernardino Mountains, Peninsular Ranges, and Modoc Plateau in closed-cone pine forest and chaparral at elevations below 2,000 meters. Its distinctive seed cones remain tightly closed for many years, only opening after fire, creating a dramatic 6 to 18 centimeters long asymmetric cone with prominent knobby scale tips. Growing with a trunk less than 36 meters tall and less than 1.1 meters wide, the tree develops a complex crown with multiple tops and many branches covered in gray-brown bark. Its needles grow in clusters of three, reaching 6 to 16 centimeters long and displaying a distinctive yellow-green color with persistent sheaths. The tree's unique adaptation of serotinous cones allows it to regenerate quickly after wildfire, with seeds dispersing only when the intense heat breaks open the tightly sealed cones.

Habitat: Closed-cone-pine forest, chaparral

Elevation: < 2000 m

Bioregions: NW, CaR, SN, e SnFrB, SCoR, SnBr, PR, MP

California counties: Los Angeles, Lake, Orange, Placer, Napa, Humboldt, Del Norte, Alameda, Mariposa, Glenn, San Bernardino, Monterey, Nevada, Modoc, Mendocino, Riverside, Fresno, Marin, Santa Cruz, Siskiyou, San Luis Obispo, Shasta, San Diego, Santa Clara, El Dorado, Sonoma, Butte, Contra Costa, San Mateo, San Francisco, Colusa, Sierra, Trinity, Santa Barbara, Tehama, Plumas

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.