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Mar 06, 2022 · Ponderosa Pines are easily recognized by their tall, straight, thick trunks, clad in scaled, rusty-orange bark that has split into big plates. Ponderosa Pine bark smells like vanilla or butterscotch. The 4-8 inch long evergreen needles, thick and flexible, three to a bundle, droop gracefully from their branches.
What is the difference between ponderosa pine and yellow pine?
Comments: Although Ponderosa Pine is technically classified as a yellow (hard) pine, it shares many characteristics with white (soft) pines, having a considerably lower density than the yellow pine species found in the eastern United States.
What do ponderosa pine needles look like?
2:456:54Ponderosa Pine - Edible and Medicinal Tree Description and ...YouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipAnd on open dry slopes. They're very tolerant of high temperatures and drought. And are shadeMoreAnd on open dry slopes. They're very tolerant of high temperatures and drought. And are shade intolerant. And you can find them in southern bc. And south to california mainly east of the cascades.
What does ponderosa pine wood look like?
Sapwood is nearly white to pale yellow; heartwood is light to reddish brown. Clear finishes with UV blockers can help retain its freshly-milled color. It has a pleasant pine scent and is slightly resinous. Ponderosa Pine is generally recognized as the most versatile wood found in abundance in North America.
Where does ponderosa pine grow?
Native Range The range of ponderosa pine extends from southern Canada into Mexico, and from the Plains States of Nebraska and Oklahoma to the Pacific Coast.
How do you identify ponderosa pine?
Ponderosa Pines are easily recognized by their tall, straight, thick trunks, clad in scaled, rusty-orange bark that has split into big plates. One can easily identify some trees by smelling their bark. Ponderosa Pine bark smells like vanilla or butterscotch.Feb 24, 2015
How can you tell Jeffrey pine from ponderosa pine?
1. In southern California, Jeffrey needles are usually dull blue-gray-green (left); ponderosa needles are always shiny green (right). This difference is most apparent in full sunlight with the sun behind you.Nov 25, 2014
Is Ponderosa pine expensive?
It is valuable in the construction industry, especially for interior woodwork. It has a straight grain and medium texture. The wood works well with both hand and machine tools and glues and finishes well. Ponderosa Pine is moderately priced and readily available.
Is Ponderosa pine a hardwood or softwood?
softwoodAt first glance, Ponderosa pine, a softwood, could seem like an unusual product offering for a hardwoods lumber company. But this standout pine's beauty, easy workability and versatility are inspiring growing interest from our customers and home consumers alike.
Is a Ponderosa pine a white pine?
Botanically, not a true white pine, Ponderosa Pine wood is classified by authorities as generally similar in properties to the white pines. The Ponderosa Pine tree averages from 125 to 185 feet in height.
What state has the most ponderosa pines?
The ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosae scopulorum) is the most widely distributed pine in North America and occupies a vast area in the West. Ponderosa pine forests, woodlands and savannas occupy approximately 2 million acres in Colorado or 8 percent of the state's forested land.
Do ponderosa pines smell like vanilla?
Stick your nose into a crevice of the bark and take a big sniff. It may smell like butterscotch or vanilla. The next person who smells it may insist it's more like cinnamon, or even coconut. Scientists don't know why a closely sniffed Ponderosa smells like baking cookies.Aug 17, 2009
What is the difference between ponderosa pine and lodgepole pine?
Ponderosa and Jeffrey Pines have needles 5-10 inches long, whereas the needles on Lodgepoles are only 1-3 inches long. The size and shape of pine cones is another of the key characteristics to differentiate the pine species.
How do you water ponderosa pines?
Established Trees Evenly spaced moisture throughout the year helps to achieve optimal growth. To conserve soil moisture and minimize supplemental watering, mulch the ponderosa pine for two feet out past the drip line of the tree. Mulching also prevents competition from weeds.
How do you care for a ponderosa pine?
Newly planted Ponderosa pine growing tips include providing supplemental water for the first year, providing a stake or other support and fertilizing with a phosphorus high food to encourage root growth. Plant them in moist, well-drained soil in full sun in USDA plant hardiness zones 3 to 7.
What is ponderosa pine used for?
The clear wood is used for sashes, doors, blinds, moulding, paneling, interior woodwork, and built-in cases and cabinets. Low-grade lumber is used for boxes, crates and wood packaging. Knotty Ponderosa pine is also used for interior woodwork.
Is Ponderosa pine poisonous?
Other species of pine tree, spruces, and firs have not been incriminated in causing abortions. Some cypress, and Pinus radiata contain isocupressic acid and therefore may cause abortion. The red pine (P. resinosa) has not been associated with abortion in cattle. Bald cypress (Taxodium distichum)is not know to be toxic.
How do you grow a ponderosa pine?
Fill several 1-gallon nursery pots with the bark, sand and soil mixture, creating one for each tree. Apply water to a depth of 7 inches and allow it to drain for 20 minutes. Sow one ponderosa pine seed in each pot of soil. Press the seed 1/8 inch deep into the soil and cover it.
How deep are ponderosa pine tree roots?
This Page 4 Ponderosa Pine allows the young tree to survive drought that can dry out the topsoil. Mature trees may have a taproot up to 36 feet (11 m) deep; they also grow a shallow lateral root system that extends as much as 100 feet (30 m) from the tree to absorb surface moisture quickly from rain and snow.
Why do Ponderosa pines smell like vanilla?
Stick your nose into a crevice of the bark and take a big sniff. It may smell like butterscotch or vanilla. The aroma may arise from a chemical in the sap being warmed by the sun. (The Jeffrey pine, a close relative of the Ponderosa, is also known to turn yellow and give off a similar smell.)
Where is Ponderosa pine found?
Ponderosa pine is a species of lean and erect coniferous trees distributed in the western US and Canada. It is one of the most abundant conifer species in America and is valued for its rugged-looking and resilient timber as well as for recreational use.
Who invented the ponderosa pine?
A Scottish nurseryman, Charles Lawson has been credited with naming and describing these pines, although their scientific name was first coined by David Douglas in 1829. The deep taproot system of ponderosa pines makes them wind-resistant.
What birds eat ponderosa pine?
Chickadees, mourning doves, jays, finches, red-winged blackbirds, squirrels, turkeys, chipmunks feed on ponderosa pine seeds; needles and bark are used as nesting materials by spruce grouse and rodents; also serve as roosting or nesting site for different bird species. Varieties/Cultivars.
What color are the cones on a tree?
Cones: Orange or yellow male cones, occur in small clusters at the tips of branches; oval and woody female cones, 8-15 cm long; scales have sharp, rigid prickles. Bark: Blackish-brown in young trees; yellow to orange-brown with broad, scaly plates in mature trees. Shape at Maturity.
How tall is a ponderosa pine tree?
Ponderosa Pine. Pinus ponderosa is one of the Southwest's tallest trees in many parts of its range, growing to incredible heights of over 200 feet, with huge trunks 3-4 feet across. Named for its ponderous (heavy) wood, this pine is the major lumber tree in the Southwest.
What does ponderosa pine smell like?
Ponderosa Pine bark smells like vanilla or butterscotch. The 4-8 inch long evergreen needles, thick and flexible, three to a bundle, droop gracefully from their branches. Large trees live for 500 or more years. For the first 150 or so years, young ponderosas have nearly black bark.
Why are fires important for ponderosas?
Fires are essential for ponderosas because they help keep the more shade-tolerant tree species from invading Ponderosa Pine's preferred habitat. While small ponderosas may succumb to a hot fire, only the most horrendous crown-fires or firestorms will kill the bigger trees.
How high do ponderosa seeds float?
Mottled purple winged seeds are dispersed from the parent tree by the wind and may float as high as 1,000 ft before falling to the ground. Although small, the seeds are readily consumed by small rodents and birds. lee dittmann.
What is the purpose of ponderosa pine?
The Ponderosa Pine is the major species used for dendrochronology, or tree-ring dating, to study historic climate patterns by reading the width of tree rings. In wet years, trees grow wide rings. In dry years, the rings are narrow.
Where do ponderosa pines grow?
These woody behemoths grow on dry mountain slopes and mesas. They occur in green, park-like stands on dry, well-drained, and exposed southerly slopes or plateaus. Ponderosa Pines are easily recognized by their tall, straight, thick trunks, clad in scaled, rusty-orange bark that has split into big plates.
Is Pinus Ponderosa a flowering plant?
Flowering Season: N/A not a flowering plant. Range: Numerous mountain ranges in the western U.S. lee dittmann. General Description: Pinus ponderosa is one of the Southwest's tallest trees in many parts of its range, growing to incredible heights of over 200 feet, with huge trunks 3-4 feet across. Named for its ponderous (heavy) ...
How tall does Ponderosa Pine grow?
The ponderosa pine grows to a height of 60–100' and a spread of 25–30' at maturity.
What type of soil does Ponderosa Pine like?
The ponderosa pine adapts to a variety of soil conditions at high and low elevations including deep, moist, well-drained, loamy sand, clay loam, rocky, dry, alkaline and salt soils. It is highly drought-tolerant once established but is intolerant of excessively wet or poorly drained sites.
What was the bark of the ponderosa pine used for?
In the spring, the bark was scraped and eaten raw as a sweet treat. Inner bark gum was used for medicine. The needles were steeped to make a tea. The ponderosa pine also provided canoes for Lewis and Clark after they crossed the Rocky Mountains into the headwaters of the Columbia River.
What is a ponderosa tree?
Pinus ponderosa. The Ponderosa pine is a large, straight trunked tree with a wide, open, irregularly cylindrical crown. The narrow to broad pyramidal crown on young trees flattens out on old trees with lower branch loss.
Is a yellow pine tree resistant to fire?
The thick bark makes it very resistant to wild fires. Dark gray-green, olive or yellow green needles are in threes, rarely two or five. The reddish brown or tan cone scales have prickly tips. This is a yellow pine with yellow or light brown heartwood. The root system is wide spreading with a deep taproot.
What is the most beautiful pine?
Ponderosa Pine. Ponderosa Pine is perhaps the most beloved of the Western pines. Its soft texture and light color distinguish it from the Southern pines; its wood is among the most beautiful of all pines. Sapwood is nearly white to pale yellow; heartwood is light to reddish brown.
Is Ponderosa pine resinous?
It has a pleasant pine scent and is slightly resinous. Ponderosa Pine is generally recognized as the most versatile wood found in abundance in North America. Its uses range throughout every phase of light construction.
How big do ponderosa pine cones get?
Ponderosa needles are bundled in threes and they are five to ten inches long, forming tufts at branch ends, with three to six inch long pine cones having sharp teeth. Old growth ponderosas grow 150 to 180 feet tall and 3 to 4 feet in diameter.
What type of pine is best for ponderosa?
Ponderosa pine extend into the moister, cooler mid-elevation forests and mix with interior Douglas fir, western larch, quaking aspen, and lodgepole pine.
What is a ponderosa tree?
Some people refer to ponderosa pine trees in logging terms as bull pine or yellow pine depending on the quality of its wood. Ponderosas provide food and shelter for a wide variety of birds at the edge of the shrub-steppe including northern flicker, Lewis's woodpecker and other woodpeckers, white-breasted and pygmy nuthatch, Clark's nutcracker, ...
What is a ponderosa pine snag?
Ponderosa pine snag. habitat for mouse-eared and pallid bats, woodpeckers and other birds. Dead ponderosa pine. bird and insect damage. Ponderosa pine needles. used for winter browse by mule deer. Young ponderosa. bark rubbed by mule deer buck antlers. Forest fire in ponderosa pine trees.
What insects do ponderosas eat?
Loose, deep-furrowed bark and abandoned nest cavities of dying ponderosas also provide shelter for mouse-eared bats that flip-flap in desert nights hunting mosquitos and moths, and for pallid bats that forage for ground-dwelling insects including beetles.
Where should I plant ponderosas?
Ponderosas seedlings planted at the edge of open country should be planted from local stock or seeded from local trees to ensure good adaptation and should be shaded from blazing summer sun, caged from deer, and if possible, watered in summer until roots reach deep moisture in a year or two. Ponderosa pine tree - Pinus ponderosa.
Where do pine trees grow in Washington?
Eastern Washington. Ponderosa pine trees ( Pinus ponderosa) grow in the Columbia basin at lower elevations, forming the arid timberline where forest transitions to shrub-steppe and grasslands. It's a stately tree that favors places where the pondering is good, on the border between the refuge of forests and prospect of wide-open spaces.
