Pinus lambertiana

Sugar pine

Family: Pinaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Sugar pine is a California native conifer found in northwestern California, the Cascade Range, Sierra Nevada, Santa Lucia Range, southwestern California, and western Great Basin in mixed-conifer and mixed-evergreen forests at elevations up to 3,200 meters. This massive tree produces remarkably large seed cones 20 to 60 centimeters long that hang pendulously from horizontal branches. Growing to impressive heights of up to 70 meters with a trunk potentially 3.3 meters wide, it develops a distinctively flat crown with large, spreading branches. Its needles grow in bundles of five, measuring 5 to 11 centimeters long and characterized by a stiff, sometimes twisted appearance. The mature bark is thick and dark purple-brown, forming irregular plate-like ridges that contribute to the tree's rugged, ancient character.

Habitat: Mixed-conifer, mixed-evergreen forests

Elevation: < 3200 m

Bioregions: NW, CaR, SN, SCoRO (Santa Lucia Range), SW, w GB

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

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