Ponderosa Pine tree - Pinus ponderosa

I took these pictures of the Ponderosa Pine in a park on the north side of Spokane Washington near highway two as it head north-east towards Newport. Along one side of the park there was a stand of these tall pine trees and as the day was clear and sunny it was a great opportunity to get some good detail pictures of the cones and pine needles.

The needles of this pine tree species are about 7-8 inches long (17-20cm). The seed cones are roundish and about 4 inches long. I would estimate that the trees in the picture above are about 100 feet tall.

As can be seen in the image above the new seed cones are quite prickly as is the bark on the new branches. The bark on the main trunk has a puzzle like pattern.


The seed cones grow two or three together at the same place on the branch and when they fall they leave a curious looking stub (below).

This tree is quite common throughout the Inland Empire and up into Canada.

3 comments:

  1. i find this very interesting

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  2. do pine trees not produce pine cones until it reaches a certain age?

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  3. Kano, I believe the tree must reach a certain age before it can produce cones but I don´t know what that age is. I´ve seen cones on trees that look to about 7-10 years old.

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