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Pinus muricata

Pinus muricata D. Don

Bishop Pine

Pinaceae (Pine Family)

Synonym(s): Pinus muricata ssp. borealis, Pinus muricata ssp. stantonii, Pinus muricata var. borealis, Pinus muricata var. muricata, Pinus muricata var. remorata, Pinus muricata var. stantonii, Pinus remorata

USDA Symbol: pimu

USDA Native Status: L48 (N)

A fast-growing, dark green pine with rugged bark and thick, spreading branches creating a dense, rounded habit. Mature height is usually 40-60 ft. Tree with conical, rounded, or irregular crown of stout, spreading branches and with numerous spiny cones remaining closed many years.

The numerous cones remain closed, even when enclosed by the bark and wood of the expanding trunk. Fossil cones from the Pleistocene, or glacial, epoch indicate that this pine was associated with extinct vertebrates, including the woolly mammoth. Its common name apparently refers to the discovery of this local pine in 1835 near the mission of San Luis Obispo (Saint Louis, Bishop of Toulouse) in California.