Index / Search / Pinus ponderosa
§1 Plant — species · Pinaceae
Pinus ponderosa Lawson & C. Lawson
vernacular ponderosa pine
PlateNo public-domain or CC photograph located.
§2Habit & range
Habit and range
- Growth habit
- Tree
- Duration
- Perennial
- Group
- Gymnosperm
- Family
- Pinaceae Spreng. ex Rudolphi
- Genus
- Pinus
§2a
Native status, by region
- CAN Canada Native
- L48 Lower 48 States Native
§3Cultivation specs · USDA
Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.
§3a
Tolerances
- Drought
- High
- Shade
- High
- Moisture use
- Medium
- Fire
- High
- Salinity
- Medium
- Anaerobic
- None
- CaCO₃
- Low
- Hedging
- Low
§3b
Climate & soil
- Cold tolerance
- -36 °F minimum
- Frost-free days
- 150 min.
- Precipitation
- 15–25 in/yr
- pH range
- 5–9
- Root depth
- 20 in min.
- Fertility need
- Low
- Soil texture
- coarse, medium
§3c
Form & growth
- Growth form
- Single Stem
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Lifespan
- Long
- Mature height
- 223 ft
- Height @ 20 y
- 40 ft
- Foliage texture
- Medium
- Foliage colour
- Green
- Porosity (summer)
- Dense
- Porosity (winter)
- Dense
- Flower colour
- Yellow
- Fruit colour
- Brown
- Fire resistant
- Yes
- N fixation
- None
- Toxicity
- None
§3d
Reproduction
- Bloom period
- Mid Spring
- Seed abundance
- High
- Seed begins
- Summer
- Seed ends
- Fall
- Spread rate
- Slow
- Stratify
- Yes
- Seeds / lb
- 12,000
- Propagation
- seed, bare root, container
§3e
Use & availability
- Commercial availability
- Routinely Available
- Nursery stock
- Yes
- Browse palatability
- Low
- Graze palatability
- Low
- Palatable, human
- No
- Protein potential
- Low
- Lumber
- Yes
- Fuelwood
- Medium
- Christmas tree
- No
§4Montana distribution
Recorded in 22 of 56 Montana counties.
Native · 22 counties
- Big Horn 30003
- Broadwater 30007
- Carter 30011
- Cascade 30013
- Custer 30017
- Fergus 30027
- Flathead 30029
- Gallatin 30031
- Garfield 30033
- Lake 30047
- Lincoln 30053
- Mineral 30061
- Missoula 30063
- Musselshell 30065
- Petroleum 30069
- Phillips 30071
- Powder River 30075
- Rosebud 30087
- Stillwater 30095
- Treasure 30103
- Valley 30105
- Yellowstone 30111
§5Sources & provenance
USDA PLANTS
Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.
plants.usda.gov/PIPO ↗GBIF Backbone
Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.
gbif.org/species/5285053 ↗Record version
Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:
usda-plants-mt-2026-05-25
fetched 2026-05-25T13:54:58Z