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Pinus coulteri
Also called Bigcone Pine, Big-cone Pine, Pitch Pine
Coulter pine (Pinus coulteri), also called bigcone pine, is a medium-sized conifer from the coastal mountains of southern California and northern Baja California, known for the largest cones of any pine. It is grown as a drought-tolerant ornamental in large gardens and parks, and needs full sun, good drainage and very little summer water.
Coulter pine (Pinus coulteri), or big-cone pine, is a species of conifer in the family Pinaceae. Coulter pine is a medium-sized coniferous tree that lives up to 100 years. It is a native of the coastal mountains of Southern California in the United States and northern Baja California in Mexico, occurring in mediterranean climates, where winter rains are infrequent and summers are dry with occasional thunderstorms. Isolated groves are found as far north as Clearlake, California, on the flanks of Mt. Konocti and in Black Diamond Mines Regional Preserve. Although geographically isolated, these Coulter pine populations were very similar in all of three studies of morphological characteristics. Oleoresins (volatile portions) were also similar.
While the species has a limited range in the wild, the Coulter pine is a popular ornamental tree and is grown in many countries.
Coulter pine is most frequent on steep south-facing slopes and ridges. Soils may be poor to fertile, and are typically dry. Coulter pine is an indicator of serpentine soils, but also occurs on a variety of other substrates. Soils range from loamy to gravelly or rocky in texture. Coulter pine occurs at 150–2,100 m (500–7,000 ft) elevation.
Wildlife, especially squirrels, gather the large seeds. The seeds were also once eaten by Native Americans.
Rocky Mountains Bristlecone Pine · Arizona Pine · Chinese White Pine · Mexican White Pine · Jack pine · Turkish Pine · Lacebark Pine · Canary Islands Pine · Caribbean pine · Swiss Pine · Mexican Pinyon · Sand Pine
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Coulter pine by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
