Single Leaf Pinyon Pine. Pinus monophylla, Pine Family: ( Pinaceae ), Single Leaf Pinyon Pine. Also called: Singleleaf pi�on, One Leaved, & Nevada Nut Pine, Caryopitys monophylla, Pinus californiarum, Pinus cembroides, Zuccarini var. monophylla. We wish to thank Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia for some of the information on this page. We share images and information with Wikipedia. Single Leaf Pinyon Pine or Pinus monophylla, when mature is about 15 to 30 feet tall and 1.6 feet in diameter. It is dense with a usually rounded crown. It also is strongly tapered with many branches. It has red - brown bark that is scaly, and irregularly furrowed or cross-checked. Its branches are spreading and ascending, persistent to near the trunk base; the twigs are stout, orange-brown, which agie brown to gray, sometimes they are sparsely puberulent. Its buds are ellipsoid, light red-brown, 1/4 to 5/8 inch long, resinous; with their scale margins fringed. Needles 1 (rarely 2) per fascicle, ascending, persisting 4 -6 sometimes up to 10 years, 3/4 to 2 1/4 inch long. About 1.3 to 2.5 mm thick. They are stout, curved, terete, gray-green, all surfaces with stomatal lines, margins entire. The staminate cones are ellipsoid, and about 10 mm in size of yellow color. The ovulate cones mature in about 2 years, shedding their seeds and then falling. As with other pi�ons, the seeds rest in a deep cone-scale declivity and the upper cone scale tissue holds the seeds in place, so that the seeds do not readily fall out and are easily available to birds. The seeds are small cylindric-ellipsoid; gray - brown to brown in color, wingless, and edible. Pinus monophylla is easy to identify as it is the only pine tree bearing a single needle (almost always) per fascicle. The oldest Pinus monophylla known is in the Pilot Range, of Nevada, and it crossdated to 1106 AD. The following remarks can be made concerning all Pinyon Pines. Pinyon Pines are perennial, evergreen trees that are monecious, with seed-bearing (female, "pistillate") and pollen bearing (male, "staminate") structures that are separate, but on each tree. Pinyons are a soft, dark green in color. Throughout their adult life Pinyons have a rounded symmetrical shape, but after many decades most Pinyons lose their lower branches. They grow 30 to 45 feet tall with trunks, up to three feet in diameter, with a handsome 30 foot crown spread. Pinyons live long lives, perhaps 800 years . Pinyon Pine nuts take about twenty-six months to mature: cone buds are formed in the first summer; then a small cone forms, opens, is pollinated, and closes in the second summer; this cone reopens in the third summer allowing the pollen inside to fertilize the eggs. Growth is then rapid and by the end of the third summer the green, sappy, two inch seed cone matures, dries to light brown, and opens. Light colored seed husks are almost always empty; good seed husks are usually dark brown. The buff-yellow pine nuts inside the good husks are a mainstay of many Colorado Plateau animals. The distribution of pinyon pine is primarily determined by climate. Its lower limits are determined by lack of moisture; upper limits by biotic competition, low temperatures, and excessive soil moisture. Therefore, the elevational zones it occupies vary considerably depending on local topography and geographical location. Pinyon pine usually grows on the higher elevation sites in the pinyon-juniper woodlands it occupies. Its locations are intermediate between ponderosa pine and submontane scrub above, and semi-arid grassland or sagebrush steppes below. Pinyon occurs most commonly at elevations between 4,500 and 7,500 feet where annual precipitation ranges from 12 to 18 inches. The seeds are important wildlife food for several songbirds, quails, squirrels, chipmunks, black bears, and mule deer. The seed crop of pinyon pine is valuable and is used in making candies, cakes, and cookies. In the past the seeds were a staple food in American Indian diets and were eaten raw, roasted, or ground into flour. Today, some incense is made from the crushed cones. Native American still use the pitch as a caulking compound for watertight baskets and as glue for turquoise jewelry. The annual harvest of pinyon nuts exceeds 1 million pounds. This crop is second in commercial value only to pecans among the uncultivated nuts of the United States. Singleleaf Pinyon Pine (P. monophylla) nuts are larger and more desirable than those from P. edulis. The tree is also desired as a Christmas tree because of its aromatic fragrance, and the wood is also used for fuel and fence posts. Quick Notes: Height: 15 to 30 feet tall and up to 1.6 feet in diameter. Trunk: Up to about 30 inches thick. A single trunk sometimes with a few branches. Each branch can be 8" - 16" in diameter. Bark: Dark, tight, fissured bark. Cones: Yellowish papery male cones, female pinecones, 2 to 6 inches in length, conical to ovate, stalk nearly absent; cone scales thickened at the apex, with a small apical spine, and with a raised keel. Buds: Buds ovoid, to 2 cm, 1 cm broad, red-brown, very resinous; scale margins white-fringed. Flowers: Monoecious; males in long drooping catkins, yellow-green; females very small spikes in leaf axils, appearing with the leaves. Flowering Time: Mid March - May. Fruit: Pine nuts. Leaves: Needles about two inches long, in bundles of one, thin, and dark green. New growth is bluish-green turning yellowish-green. Found: Native to the USA (AZ, CA, ID, NM, NV, UT). Also native to northern Mexico in northern Sonora, northwestern Chihuahua, California Norte, & northern Baja California. Hardiness: USDA Zone 3a: to -39.9 �C (-40 �F) USDA Zone 3b: to -37.2 �C (-35 �F) USDA Zone 4a: to -34.4 �C (-30 �F) USDA Zone 4b: to -31.6 �C (-25 �F) USDA Zone 5a: to -28.8 �C (-20 �F) USDA Zone 5b: to -26.1 �C (-15 �F) USDA Zone 6a: to -23.3 �C (-10 �F) USDA Zone 6b: to -20.5 �C (-5 �F) USDA Zone 7a: to -17.7 �C (0 �F) USDA Zone 7b: to -14.9 �C (5 �F) USDA Zone 8a: to -12.2 �C (10 �F) USDA Zone 8b: to -9.4 �C (15 �F) Soil pH requirements: 5.6 to 6.0 (acidic) 6.1 to 6.5 (mildly acidic) 6.6 to 7.5 (neutral) 7.6 to 7.8 (mildly alkaline) 7.9 to 8.5 (alkaline) Sun Exposure: Full Sun Elevation: Elevations between 3,280 and 7,600 feet where annual precipitation ranges from 12 to 18 inches. Reported in California between 0 to 9,000 feet elevations; where there are specimen records in a herbarium. Habitat: Dry and rocky soils Landscape Plant In Some Areas. The woodland mosaic formed by pinyon pine occurs primarily on the high plains, plateaus, mesas, canyons, foothills, and lower mountain slopes of the Colorado Plateau. Semi-desert, foothills. Woodlands. Dry and rocky soils. Associated Species are: Utah juniper, big sagebrush, Indian ricegrass. Miscellaneous: Photos Taken Mogollon Rim Road, Near Payson, Arizona. May 11, 2009.

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