Pinus coulteri

Identification

Description

Coulter pine is a green to grey conifer that is native to the central and southern coast ranges of California. Stocky and gray inland, tall and greener in the forest. At lower elevations hard to tell from Pinus Sabiniana, at wetter and cooler locations Coulter pine looks like Ponderosa Pine. The cones are different, Coulter pine has a thick and heavy cone(about 20-25 centimeters, 10-12 inches) with medium nuts, Digger pine has a medium cone(15-25 centimeters, 10-12 inches) and larger nuts, Ponderosa pine has smaller cones(7-15 centimeters,5-6 inches) and in some locations there is overlap with Knobcone and Lodgepole (both have smaller comes). Heavy cone? The cone is about as heavy as a quart jar full of maple syrup. Coulter pine good for a large screen, drought tolerant, grows ten feet in a ten year period. Stockier than Digger Pine out of its element. Almost unrecognizable to people that have planted it in the interior when seen in the Mixed forest. This tree has done fine in the San Joaquin Valley (Taft and Bakersfield.). Associated plants common include manzanitas, Ceanothus, oaks(scrub, chrysolepis, interior), Garrya species, Rhamnus tomentella, Libocedrus, and Monardella.