# Singleleaf Pinyon (Pinus monophylla)

> Singleleaf pinyon, Pinus monophylla: a small tree of 15 to 50 feet for zones 5 to 9, where it grows wild, 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/singleleaf-pinyon/

![A broad, rounded singleleaf pinyon with spreading reddish limbs against a deep blue sky](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/species/singleleaf-pinyon-1000.jpg?v=8f8c5862 "A singleleaf pinyon at about 7,000 feet in Swall Meadows, Mono County, California, on July 4, 2010. One cross-dated in the Pilot Range of Nevada was 900 years old.")
*Photo: Dcrjsr, [CC BY-SA 3.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) ([source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3APinyon_pine_Pinus_monophylla.jpg))*

Small tree, 15 to 50 feet, zones 5 to 9; full sun; dry or average ground.

We do not grow singleleaf 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 | Singleleaf Pinyon |
| --- | --- |
| Other names | Singleleaf pinyon pine, singleleaf piñon, one-leaf pine, one-leaved pinyon, one-leaved pine, oneneedle pinyon, Nevada nut pine |
| Form | Small tree |
| Height, feet | 15 to 50; up to 70 in its native stands |
| Spread, feet | Up to 35 |
| Zones | 5 to 9 |
| Sun | Full sun |
| Soil moisture | Dry or average ground |
| Growth | Slow |
| Leaves | Evergreen |
| Traits | Wildlife value, edible, hedge or screen, erosion control |
| Pollen | May to June |
| Fruit | Cones, August to November |
| First crop | About 35 years (good crops from 75 to 100) |
| Pollination | Not known whether one bears alone |
| Lifespan | The oldest tree dated by its rings reached 900 years. Only a tiny share of trees has ever been ring-counted or cross-dated. |
| Planting season | Fall or spring. The NRCS plant guide sets young pinyons out in October where winters are warm, and in spring as soon as the ground thaws where winters are cold. |
| Black walnut | Not named on the Morton Arboretum's lists |
| Ground | Dry uplands and rocky ground |
| Native in | 6 states |

Singleleaf pinyon is native in 6 states: [Arizona](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=AZ), [California](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=CA), [Idaho](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=ID), [Nevada](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NV), [New Mexico](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NM) and [Utah](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=UT). The states are the USDA PLANTS Database's records, with the native range read from the Fire Effects Information System, the NRCS plant guide, Oregon State University, Silvics of North America and the Gymnosperm Database.

## What our tools say

- [How fast it grows and how big it gets, by site](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md?species=singleleaf-pinyon): the growth estimator
- [Whether it suits your zone, sun and soil](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md?species=singleleaf-pinyon): the planting-site check
- [How far from a house, wires and a septic field](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/distance/index.html.md?species=singleleaf-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=singleleaf-pinyon): the companion species tool
- [When to plant it where you live](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/planting-window/index.html.md?species=singleleaf-pinyon): the planting-window tool
- [When it sheds pollen and bears cones, month by month](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md?plants=singleleaf-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=singleleaf-pinyon): the seed sowing planner
- [Whether one you have can be moved, and what the move takes](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/transplant/index.html.md?species=singleleaf-pinyon): the transplant planner
- [How old one is, from its trunk](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/tree-age/index.html.md?species=singleleaf-pinyon): the tree age calculator
- [How a big one scores against the champion trees](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/big-tree/index.html.md?species=singleleaf-pinyon): the big-tree measurer

## For the same ground, we grow

- [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.
- [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.
- [Western Soapberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/western-soapberry/index.html.md) (*Sapindus saponaria var. drummondii*): medium tree, 20 to 50 feet, zones 5 to 9. Shares dry uplands and rocky ground in the wild.
- [Chinquapin Oak](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/chinquapin-oak/index.html.md) (*Quercus muehlenbergii*): medium tree, 40 to 60 feet, zones 3 to 9. Shares dry uplands and rocky ground in the wild.
- [Chokecherry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/chokecherry/index.html.md) (*Prunus virginiana*): small tree, 20 to 30 feet, zones 2 to 10. Shares rocky ground in the wild.
- [Common Hoptree (Wafer Ash)](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/common-hoptree/index.html.md) (*Ptelea trifoliata*): small tree, 10 to 20 feet, zones 4 to 9. Shares rocky ground in the wild.
- [Every companion of singleleaf pinyon in the companion species tool](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=singleleaf-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, the Wildflower Center, Cal Poly's SelecTree, Oregon State University's Landscape Plants, Utah State University Extension, Calscape, the Gymnosperm Database, the Jepson eFlora and Rocky Mountain Tree-Ring Research.