Pinus coulteri

Coulter pine, Coulter Pine

Family: Pinaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Coulter pine is a native shrub found in central and southern coastal California in chaparral and mixed-conifer forests at elevations up to 3,000 meters. Producing massive seed cones up to 35 centimeters long with dramatically elongated, reflexed scale tips, this pine creates a distinctive silhouette in its woodland habitats. Growing with thick trunks up to 42 meters tall and less than 1.5 meters wide, the tree develops a mature bark that breaks into yellow plates and dense lower branches. Its needles grow in bundles of three, reaching 15 to 30 centimeters long and remaining stiff and persistent. The enormous seed cones, which open slowly in their second or third year, are approximately yellow and remain on the tree for many years, creating a dramatic botanical feature.

Habitat: Chaparral, lower mixed-conifer, mixed-hardwood forests

Elevation: < 3000 m

Bioregions: CW, SW

California counties: San Bernardino, Orange, San Benito, Riverside, Los Angeles, Fresno, Contra Costa, Monterey, Lake, Kern, Butte, San Luis Obispo, San Diego, Santa Clara, Santa Barbara, Tulare, Ventura, Tuolumne, Marin, Alameda, Santa Cruz, Napa, San Mateo, El Dorado

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