Sheffield's Seed Company Page

If you're in search of a unique and attractive tree for your garden, look no further than Pinus attenuata, also known as the knobcone pine. Stand out from the crowd with their uniquely knobby cones, which stay attached to the trunk for up to 20 years. This species of pine is also well adapted to fire, with a fire needing to reach temperatures of at least 200 degrees F to open the cones and disperse the seeds. Found mainly near coastal ranges in Oregon and California, knobcone pines grow best in warm, rocky mountain soils. Although they can reach heights between 20-70 ft, they are sometimes found as shrubs in especially poor soil. Their bark is smooth and flaky when young but becomes shallowly furrowed with age. The leaves are needle-like and yellow-green, growing in fascicles of three. The cones are 8-16 cm long and clustered in whorls of three to six on the branches, staying closed for many years until opened by fire. Knobcone pines can form nearly pure stands, but they often hybridize with bishop pine and Monterey pine near the coast. This species dominates in Douglas-fir, Ponderosa pine, redwood, western hardwoods, and chaparral-mountain shrub ecosystems. It's common in the northern California and Oregon region, with smaller, discontinuous populations in the Sierra Nevada and South Coast Ranges. This tree community is an important transitional habitat between chaparral, oak woodland, and higher-elevation forests. Stand apart with the unique and fascinating knobcone pine.