# Ponderosa Pine (Pinus ponderosa)

> Ponderosa pine, Pinus ponderosa: a large tree of 60 to 150 feet where planted, for zones 3 to 9, 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/ponderosa-pine/

![Three old ponderosa pine trunks with orange, black-furrowed bark in an open stand with low shrubs](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/species/ponderosa-pine-1000.jpg?v=872858e4 "Old-growth ponderosa pines in the Deschutes National Forest, Oregon, on July 9, 1993. Trees often reach 300 to 600 years.")
*Photo: U.S. Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Region, [Public domain](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ADeschutes_National_Forest%2C_old_growth_ponderosa_pine_stand-2_%2837092584985%29.jpg) ([source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ADeschutes_National_Forest%2C_old_growth_ponderosa_pine_stand-2_%2837092584985%29.jpg))*

Large tree, 60 to 150 feet where planted, zones 3 to 9; full sun or part shade; dry or average ground.

We do not grow ponderosa 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

| Fact | Ponderosa Pine |
| --- | --- |
| Other names | Western yellow pine, bull pine, blackjack pine, Pacific ponderosa pine, Rocky Mountain ponderosa pine, interior ponderosa pine, western red pine, western pitch pine |
| Form | Large tree |
| Height, feet | 60 to 150 where planted; up to 272 in its native stands |
| Spread, feet | Up to 30 |
| Zones | 3 to 9 |
| Sun | Full sun or part shade |
| Soil moisture | Dry or average ground |
| Growth | Medium |
| Leaves | Evergreen |
| Traits | Wildlife value, salt tolerant, winter interest, erosion control |
| Pollen | April to June |
| Fruit | Cones, August to November |
| First crop | 7 to 20 years |
| Pollination | One bears; a second improves the crop. Each tree carries both male and female cones and the wind carries the pollen; trees mostly cross with their neighbors, though some selfing occurs. |
| Lifespan | Usually lives 300 to 600 years and can live 1,047, and the oldest dated one reached 929. Only a tiny share of trees has ever been ring-counted or cross-dated. |
| Black walnut | Not named on the Morton Arboretum's lists |
| Toxicity | The needles are poisonous to pregnant cattle and horses. |
| Ground | Dry uplands and rocky ground |
| Native in | 16 states |

Ponderosa pine is native in 16 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), [Idaho](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=ID), [Montana](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MT), [Nebraska](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NE), [Nevada](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NV), [New Mexico](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NM), [North Dakota](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=ND), [Oklahoma](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=OK), [Oregon](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=OR), [South Dakota](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=SD), [Texas](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=TX), [Utah](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=UT), [Washington](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=WA) 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 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=ponderosa-pine): the growth estimator
- [Whether it suits your zone, sun and soil](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md?species=ponderosa-pine): the planting-site check
- [How far from a house, wires and a septic field](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/distance/index.html.md?species=ponderosa-pine&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=ponderosa-pine): the companion species tool
- [When to plant it where you live](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/planting-window/index.html.md?species=ponderosa-pine): the planting-window tool
- [When it sheds pollen and bears cones, month by month](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md?plants=ponderosa-pine): the bloom and fruit calendar
- [How to sow its seed, with dates for your place](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md?species=ponderosa-pine): the seed sowing planner
- [How many to plant for a crop of seed](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md?plants=ponderosa-pine: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=ponderosa-pine): the transplant planner
- [How old one is, from its trunk](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/tree-age/index.html.md?species=ponderosa-pine): the tree age calculator
- [How a big one scores against the champion trees](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/big-tree/index.html.md?species=ponderosa-pine): the big-tree measurer

## For the same ground, we grow

- [Common Hackberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/common-hackberry/index.html.md) (*Celtis occidentalis*): large tree, 40 to 60 feet, zones 2 to 9. Shares dry uplands and rocky ground in the wild.
- [Black Oak](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/black-oak/index.html.md) (*Quercus velutina*): large tree, 50 to 80 feet, zones 3 to 9. Shares dry uplands and rocky ground in the wild.
- [Rock Elm](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/rock-elm/index.html.md) (*Ulmus thomasii*): large tree, 70 to 90 feet, zones 2 to 9. Shares dry uplands and rocky ground in the wild.
- [Mockernut Hickory](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/mockernut-hickory/index.html.md) (*Carya tomentosa*): large tree, 60 to 80 feet, zones 4 to 9. Shares dry uplands and rocky ground in the wild.
- [Pignut Hickory](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/pignut-hickory/index.html.md) (*Carya glabra*): large tree, 50 to 80 feet, zones 4 to 9. Shares dry uplands and rocky ground in the wild.
- [Northern Red Oak](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/northern-red-oak/index.html.md) (*Quercus rubra*): large tree, 50 to 75 feet, zones 3 to 8. Shares dry uplands and rocky ground in the wild.
- [Every companion of ponderosa pine in the companion species tool](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=ponderosa-pine)

## 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 Missouri Botanical Garden, Oregon State University's Landscape Plants, Cal Poly's SelecTree, Calscape, the Wildflower Center, the Gymnosperm Database, the ASPCA and Rocky Mountain Tree-Ring Research.