Pinus jeffreyi

Jeffrey pine

Family: Pinaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Jeffrey pine is a California native conifer found in the Klamath Ranges, North Coast Ranges, Cascade Ranges, Sierra Nevada, southern Coast Ranges, Transverse Ranges, Peninsular Ranges, and Great Basin in upper mixed-conifer and red-fir forests at elevations of 450 to 3,100 meters. Growing with massive trunks up to 53 meters tall and rounded mature crowns, this pine has distinctive red-brown bark with close-spaced deep furrows that emit a remarkable vanilla or banana scent, especially on warm days. Its needles grow in clusters of three, reaching 12 to 27 centimeters long and displaying a distinctive gray-blue-green color with a glaucous surface. The seed cones are large and spreading, generally 13 to 25 centimeters long, ranging from ovate to oblong and colored brown with light green to red-purple when immature. Mature cones feature scales with recurved tips and white-fringed bracts, creating an intricate and textured appearance characteristic of this majestic mountain pine.

Habitat: Upper mixed-conifer, red-fir forests, elsewhere on serpentine

Elevation: 450-3100 m

Bioregions: KR, NCoR, CaR, SN, SCoRI, TR, PR, GB

California counties: Mono, Butte, El Dorado, Fresno, Lassen, Humboldt, Riverside, Inyo, Madera, Nevada, Los Angeles, Kern, Mendocino, San Bernardino, Alpine, Sierra, Siskiyou, Ventura, Tuolumne, San Diego, Tulare, Amador, Shasta, Modoc, Lake, Plumas, Tehama, San Benito, Trinity, Mariposa, Placer, Santa Barbara, Monterey, Del Norte, Kings

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