Monterey Pine

Description:

Pinus radiata grows to between 15–30 m (49–98 ft) in height in the wild, but up to 60 m (200 ft) in cultivation in optimum conditions, with upward pointing branches and a rounded top. The leaves ('needles') are bright green, in clusters of three (two in var. binata), slender, 8–15 cm (3.1–5.9 in) long and with a blunt tip. The cones are 7–17 cm (2.8–6.7 in) long, brown, ovoid (egg-shaped), and usually set asymmetrically on a branch, attached at an oblique angle. The bark is fissured and dark grey to brown. It is closely related to Bishop Pine and Knobcone Pine, hybridizing readily with both species; it is distinguished from the former by needles in threes (not pairs), and from both by the cones not having a sharp spine on the scales.

Habitat:

Pinus radiata is a species of pine native to Central Coast of California, in three very limited areas located in Santa Cruz, Monterey Peninsula (Monterey), and San Luis Obispo Counties. It is also found as the variety Pinus radiata var. binata or Guadalupe Pine on Guadalupe Island, and a possibly separable P. radiata var./subspecies—ssp. cedrosensis on Cedros Island, both in the Pacific Ocean off the west coast of the northern Baja California Peninsula in Mexico.

Notes:

Kingdom: Plantae Division: Pinophyta Class: Pinopsida Order: Pinales Family: Pinaceae Subfamily: Pinoideae Genus: Pinus Subgenus: (Pinus) Species: P. radiata