The Tree

The eminent forester G. H. Collingwood makes the statement that Sugar Pine is the largest, the tallest and the most magnificent of all the pines. This king of pines reaches a height of 245 feet and diameters of from 12 to 18 feet. Commonly, however, the tree is 160 to 180 feet tall and 4 to 7 feet in diameter. The world’s largest pine at Umpana, Oregon, is 245 feet high and 18 feet 4 inches in diameter. The Sugar Pine has a magnificent straight trunk only slightly tapering and without limbs for from 60 to 80 feet. The limbs are sturdy and gracefully curved. The needles are blue-green with a whitish tinge, five in a bundle, 2% to 4 inches long, somewhat twisted but stiff and strong. The purplish-brown cones, which later turn to a lustrous chestnut-brown, are 12 to 18 inches long, and 4 to 6 inches in diameter when open. They remain on the tree for two or three years and are the longest cones of all the pines. The bark is thick, two to three inches, broken by long irregular furrows and covered with fairly large scales of cinnamon, red or purple-brown color on mature trees. The tree is found in deep moist sandy loam soil at elevations of 1000 to 9000 feet. It requires considerable moisture. When well established, the Sugar Pine resists forest fire damage like the Pitch Pine of the southeastern states, but it is affected by mistletoe growths and White Pine Blister Rust disease.

Common Names in Use

• Sugar Pine (Calif., Oreg.)
• Big Pine
• California Sugar Pine (Calif., lit.)
• Gigantic Pine (Calif., lit.)
• Great Sugar Pine
• Little Sugar Pine
• Purple-coned Sugar Pine(Calif., lit.)
• Shade Pine (Calif.)

Growth Range

The growth range of Sugar Pine extends from the Coast and Cascade mountain regions of southern Oregon along the western slopes of the Coast Ranges and the Sierra Nevadas of California into Lower California in Mexico. The heaviest stands and largest trees are found in northern California on the west slope of the Sierra Nevadas at elevations from 4,000 to 7,000 feet.

The Wood

Features and attributes of this wood

Uses

What is this wood used for? Cabinets, fencing, decking?

Reference