Blue Whale Trees
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An open stand of Jeffrey pines on pale pumice ground, with Mono Lake and hills behind
Jeffrey pines near Mono Mills, south of Mono Lake in Mono County, California, on April 7, 2018. Trees often live 400 or 500 years. Photo: Agnieszka Kwiecień, Nova, CC BY-SA 4.0 (source)

A native we do not grow

Jeffrey Pine

Pinus jeffreyi. Large tree, 90 feet where planted, zones 5 to 9; full sun or part shade; dry or average ground.

We do not grow Jeffrey pine, 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

Other namesTruckee pine, sapwood pine
FormLarge tree
Height, feet90 where planted; up to 207 in its native stands
Spread, feetUp to 30
Zones5 to 9
SunFull sun or part shade
Soil moistureDry or average ground
GrowthMedium
LeavesEvergreen
TraitsWildlife value
PollenMay to July
FruitCones, August to October
First crop8 years (cones common from about 20)
PollinationOne bears; a second improves the crop. Each tree carries both male and female cones and the wind carries the pollen, but a lone pine tends to set less seed than pines in a group.
LifespanUsually lives 400 to 500 years and can live 663, and the oldest dated one was at least 661. Only a tiny share of trees has ever been ring-counted or cross-dated.
Planting seasonSpring. Silvics plants dormant nursery seedlings at the onset of spring, once the soil warms enough for the roots to take up water, and before the last spring rain.
Black walnutNot named on the Morton Arboretum's lists
GroundDry uplands and rocky ground
Native in3 states

Jeffrey pine is native in 3 states: California, Nevada and Oregon. The states are the USDA PLANTS Database's records, with the native range read from Silvics of North America, the Fire Effects Information System, the Jepson eFlora and NC State Extension.

For the same ground, we grow

These trees we grow share the most of Jeffrey pine's natural communities in the wild, by the companion species tool's rules.

See all companions
Edible, Showy flowers

Chokecherry

Prunus virginiana
Small tree Zones 2–10 20–30 ft

Shares rocky ground in the wild.

More natives for this ground in the tree finder

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, the Missouri Botanical Garden, the Wildflower Center, Cal Poly's SelecTree, Calscape, the Jepson eFlora, the Gymnosperm Database, NC State Extension, the US Forest Service and the International Tree-Ring Data Bank.