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The Yellow Pine Forest is found throughout California. In the North Coast ranges it is found at elevations of 3000-6000 feet, in Northern California at 1200 - 5000 feet, in the Sierra Nevadas from 2000 - 6500, and in Southern California at elevations of 5000 - 8000 feet. The average rainfall is 25" - 80", partly as snow. The growing season is 4 - 7 months.

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Giant Sequoia

Sequoiadendron giganteum; Redwood Family

• the most massive trees in the world (related species the Coast Redwood, is the tallest)
• seeds are so tiny there are 91,000 seeds per pound!
• Old growth sequoias trunks average 10 - 15 feet in diameter and about 250 feet in height
• The largest sequoia, nicknamed "The General Sherman Tree," is found in Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park. It is 275 feet tall with a circumference of 102.6 feet
• life span of 2500 years
• cinnamon-colored trunk
• native only to a narrow belt within the cool Sierra Nevada forest zone

Jeffrey Pine

Pinus jeffreyi; Pine Family

• the rugged pine most often seen clinging to stark granite domes in the Sierra Nevada
• big-limbed spreading crown, and a stout, reddish barked trunk with lots of furrows
• barks smells like vanilla
• mature height ranges from 65 - 190 feet
• blue-green needles
• cones resemble a pineapple and are about 6.5" long and 5" wide; scales are thick; spines point down

Ponderosa Pine

Pinus ponderosa; Pine Family

• yellowish orange bark, which is divided into light colored plates
• bark smells like resin in the furrows
• mature height ranges from 48 - 225 feet
• yellow-green needles
• cones are about 4” long and 3” wide; spines stick out

Compare the Jeffrey and Ponderosa Pines

Compare the Jeffrey and Ponderosa Pines The Jeffrey and Ponderosa Pines are similar. Both have 8' - 10" long needles in bundles of 3, they are often about the same height, and often grow together such as in the Yellow Pine forest. The bark of the Jeffrey Pine is reddish brown or pinkish and more furrowed and the Ponderosa is more orange, and divided into large, light colored plates. The Jeffrey cones are larger and the spines point down, instead of out like the Ponderosa. How to tell these trees apart blindfolded: If you can pick up the cone painlessly or the bark smells like vanilla, it is a Jeffrey Pine.

Bitter Cherry

Prunus emarginata; Rose Family

• this tree grows in thickets 10 to 15 feet tall
• gray bark gives off a cherry fragrance when bruised; new twigs are reddish
• leaves are oval and alternate; 1 or 2 glands can be seen at the base of the blade
• white flowers appear in July, and have an almond-like fragrance
• extremely bitter red berries appear in autumn