American Soft Pines

Soft pines have close-grained, lightweight wood, pale in color. It is not highly resinous, and is easily worked, but may be brittle. Most soft pines have five-needled fascicles. At maturity (5 to 10 years), the sheaths and fasciles are shed. The cones are usually not barbed.

True White Pines

are important timber trees. They have five-needled fascicles, and the blue-green needles are usually marked with white lines that give the foliage a frosted appearance. White pines include:

Eastern White Pine,

the largest conifer native to eastern North America, often reaching a height of 120 feet (37 m) or more. It has needles 3 to 5 inches (7.5 to 12.5 cm) long, and cones 4 to 8 inches (10 to 20 cm) long. This tree grows from Newfoundland south to Georgia, and west through the Great Lakes region to Manitoba and Minnesota. It is the state tree of Maine and of Michigan.

The eastern white pine is Pinus strobus.

Western White Pine,

one of the world's largest pines, sometimes reaching a height of 200 feet (60 m). Its needles are 2 to 4 inches (5 to 10 cm) long, and its cones 6 to 12 inches (15 to 30 cm) long. The tree is native to the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific Coast from British Columbia to northern California. It is the state tree of Idaho.

The western white pine is P. monticola.

Sugar Pine,

largest of all pines, sometimes reaching a height of 220 feet (67 m). Its stiff needles are 3 to 4 inches (7.5 to 10 cm) long, and its cones are 10 to 24 inches (25 to 60 cm) long. Its sap contains a sugary substance. The tree grows in the mountainous coastal regions from Oregon to Lower California.

The sugar pine is P. lambertiana.

Stone Pines

are named for their large, hard-shelled seeds, which are either short-winged or wingless. The trees are 20 to 60 feet (6 to 18 m) tall. The needles are 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 inches (6.5 to 9 cm) long. Species include the limber pine of the Rocky Mountains from Canada to Mexico, and the whitebark pine, found from Alberta and British Columbia to central California. The limber pine bears cones 3 to 10 inches (7.5 to 25 cm) long. The whitebark's cones are 1 1/2 to 3 inches (4 to 7.5 cm) long.

The limber pine is P. flexilis; the whitebark, P. albicaulis.

Piñons (also Spelled Pinyons), or Nut Pines,

are named from the Spanish word for pine nut. The edible seeds of some piñons are widely distributed commercially. Piñons have stiff, curved needles 1 to 1 1/2 inches (2.5 to 4 cm) long, and rounded cones 1 to 2 inches (2.5 to 5 cm) in diameter. They grow in mountainous and in arid regions from Idaho and Colorado to Mexico. The Mexican piñon and the two-leaved (or Colorado) piñon usually have two-needled fascicles. The trees are 20 to 60 feet (6 to 18 m) tall. The two-leaved piñon is the state tree of New Mexico. The single-leaf piñon has one needle to a fascicle, and is 15 to 50 feet (4.6 to 15 m) tall. It grows from Utah to Lower California, and is the state tree of Nevada.

The Mexican piñon is P. cembroides; the two-leaved, P. edulis; the single-leaf, P. monophylla.

Foxtail Pines

are named for the bushy tufts of needles that grow at the ends of naked branches. The dark-green needles are 1 to 1 1/2 inches (2.5 to 4 cm) long. The barbed cones are 3 to 5 inches (7.5 to 12.5 cm) long. Foxtail pines grow to about 40 feet (12 m) tall. One species is limited to California. Two other species are scattered through mountainous areas in the West: the Rocky Mountain bristlecone pine in Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona and the intermountain bristlecone pine in California, Nevada, and Utah. Bristlecone pines can live more than 4,500 years and are among the oldest living organisms known.

The California foxtail pine is P. balfouriana; the Rocky Mountain bristlecone, P. aristata; the intermountain bristlecone, P. longaeva.