# Colorado Pinyon (Pinus edulis)

> Colorado pinyon, Pinus edulis: a small tree of 10 to 45 feet where planted, for zones 3 to 8, how fast it grows, and the natives we grow for the same ground.

Blue Whale Trees, a native tree nursery in the United States. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/species/colorado-pinyon/

![An old, twisted Colorado pinyon on pale rock at the rim of a canyon under a blue sky](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/species/colorado-pinyon-1000.jpg?v=d840053b "An old Colorado pinyon on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, Arizona, on June 8, 2009. The oldest dated by its rings, at Well's Draw in Utah, was at least 1,115 years old.")
*Photo: bloodredrapture, [CC BY 2.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0) ([source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3APinus_edulis_oldtree.jpg))*

Small tree, 10 to 45 feet where planted, zones 3 to 8; full sun; dry or average ground.

We do not grow Colorado pinyon, and it is not in our shop. This page gathers what our tools say about it and the natives we grow for the same ground.

## At a glance

| Fact | Colorado Pinyon |
| --- | --- |
| Other names | Pinyon, pinyon pine, piñon, piñon pine, twoneedle pinyon, two-leaf pinyon, two-needle pine, Colorado pinyon pine, nut pine, New Mexico pinyon, mesa pinyon, common pinyon, Rocky Mountain pinyon |
| Form | Small tree |
| Height, feet | 10 to 45 where planted; up to 56 in its native stands |
| Spread, feet | Up to 36 |
| Zones | 3 to 8 |
| Sun | Full sun |
| Soil moisture | Dry or average ground |
| Growth | Slow |
| Leaves | Evergreen |
| Traits | Wildlife value, edible |
| Pollen | May to June |
| Fruit | Cones, September to November |
| First crop | About 25 years (seed in quantity from 75 to 100) |
| Pollination | One bears; a second improves the crop. Each tree carries both male and female cones, and the wind carries the pollen. In one study, cones pollinated with a tree's own pollen survived less often and held fewer seeds than cones pollinated from other trees. |
| Lifespan | The oldest tree dated by its rings was at least 1,115 years. Only a tiny share of trees has ever been ring-counted or cross-dated. |
| Black walnut | Not named on the Morton Arboretum's lists |
| Ground | Dry uplands and rocky ground |
| Native in | 9 states |

Colorado pinyon is native in 9 states: [Arizona](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=AZ), [California](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=CA), [Colorado](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=CO), [Nevada](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NV), [New Mexico](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NM), [Oklahoma](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=OK), [Texas](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=TX), [Utah](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=UT) and [Wyoming](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=WY). The states are the USDA PLANTS Database's records, with the native range read from the Fire Effects Information System and Silvics of North America.

## What our tools say

- [How fast it grows and how big it gets, by site](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md?species=colorado-pinyon): the growth estimator
- [Whether it suits your zone, sun and soil](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md?species=colorado-pinyon): the planting-site check
- [How far from a house, wires and a septic field](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/distance/index.html.md?species=colorado-pinyon&near=house,septic,pavement,wires,boundary,tree): the planting-distance tool
- [What grows with it in the wild and in a yard](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=colorado-pinyon): the companion species tool
- [When to plant it where you live](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/planting-window/index.html.md?species=colorado-pinyon): the planting-window tool
- [When it sheds pollen and bears cones, month by month](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md?plants=colorado-pinyon): the bloom and fruit calendar
- [How to sow its seed, with dates for your place](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md?species=colorado-pinyon): the seed sowing planner
- [How many to plant for a crop of seed](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md?plants=colorado-pinyon:2): the pollination planner
- [Whether one you have can be moved, and what the move takes](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/transplant/index.html.md?species=colorado-pinyon): the transplant planner
- [How old one is, from its trunk](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/tree-age/index.html.md?species=colorado-pinyon): the tree age calculator
- [How a big one scores against the champion trees](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/big-tree/index.html.md?species=colorado-pinyon): the big-tree measurer

## For the same ground, we grow

- [Dwarf Hackberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/dwarf-hackberry/index.html.md) (*Celtis tenuifolia*): small tree, 15 to 30 feet, zones 4 to 9. Shares dry uplands and rocky ground in the wild.
- [Little Walnut](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/little-walnut/index.html.md) (*Juglans microcarpa*): small tree, 20 to 30 feet, zones 5 to 9. Shares dry uplands and rocky ground in the wild.
- [Plateau Live Oak](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/plateau-live-oak/index.html.md) (*Quercus fusiformis*): small tree, 20 to 40 feet, zones 5 to 10. Shares dry uplands and rocky ground in the wild.
- [Gum Bumelia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/gum-bumelia/index.html.md) (*Sideroxylon lanuginosum*): small tree, 15 to 45 feet, zones 5 to 10. Shares dry uplands and rocky ground in the wild.
- [Rusty Blackhaw](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/rusty-blackhaw/index.html.md) (*Viburnum rufidulum*): small tree, 10 to 20 feet, zones 5 to 9. Shares dry uplands and rocky ground in the wild.
- [Ozark Chinquapin](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/ozark-chinquapin/index.html.md) (*Castanea ozarkensis*): small tree, 15 to 30 feet, zones 5 to 8. Shares dry uplands and rocky ground in the wild.
- [Every companion of Colorado pinyon in the companion species tool](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=colorado-pinyon)

## Read from

Its figures come from Silvics of North America, the Forest Service's Fire Effects Information System, the Woody Plant Seed Manual, the USDA PLANTS Database, NC State Extension, the Wildflower Center, Cal Poly's SelecTree, Oregon State University's Landscape Plants, Utah State University Extension, Colorado State University Extension, the Gymnosperm Database and the International Tree-Ring Data Bank.