# Ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa)

> A tall, straight pine with long needles in bundles of three, prickly cones and, on mature trees, orange-brown bark in big jigsaw plates that many people say smells of vanilla or butterscotch. Young trees are dark-barked and pyramidal, older ones have open, irregular crowns. It is drought tolerant and deep-rooted once established, a good choice for large yards, parks and windbreaks in the dry West; Portland lists it as an approved street tree for wide planting strips.

Source: https://treerm.org/trees/pinus-ponderosa · Updated 2026-11-08 · License CC BY 4.0

## Facts

- Also called: Western yellow pine, Bull pine
- Family: Pinaceae
- Type: Conifer
- Mature height: 28 m; spread 8 m
- Growth: Medium growth; lives about 500 years
- USDA hardiness zones: 3 to 7
- Light: Full sun
- Water: Low water
- Soil: Deep, well-drained soil of almost any texture; tolerates alkaline and dry soil but not poor drainage or flooding
- Native range: Mountains and plateaus of western North America from southern British Columbia south to Mexico and east to the Dakotas, Nebraska and Texas.

**Benefits:** Shade, Drought tolerant, Wildlife, Birds, Windbreak, Long lived, Stores carbon well

**Good for:** parks, Yard shade, Windbreak, Timber, Reforestation, Street tree

**Watch out for:** Heavy litter, Pest prone

## Care

Plant in full sun with good drainage and water deeply but infrequently for the first few years; avoid lawn irrigation against the trunk. Prune only dead wood. Mountain and western pine beetles attack stressed trees, and dwarf mistletoe, western gall rust and needle blights occur; keep trees vigorous and thin crowded stands.

## Where it stands

- **Native:** BC, Canada; AZ, United States; CA, United States; CO, United States; ID, United States; MT, United States; ND, United States; NE, United States; NM, United States; NV, United States; OK, United States; OR, United States; SD, United States; TX, United States; UT, United States; WA, United States; WY, United States
- **Recommended:** Sacramento, CA, United States (On the Sacramento Tree Foundation Shady 80 recommended trees list); Portland, OR, United States (On Portland's approved street tree list for planting strips 8.5 ft and wider, marked native.)

## Sources

- https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/pinus-ponderosa/
- https://plants.usda.gov/plant-profile/PIPO
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinus_ponderosa