General Plant Information (Edit)
Plant Habit: Tree
Life cycle: Perennial
Sun Requirements: Full Sun
Water Preferences: Mesic
Dry Mesic
Dry
Minimum cold hardiness: Zone 5a -28.9 °C (-20 °F) to -26.1 °C (-15 °F)
Maximum recommended zone: Zone 8a
Plant Height: 15 to 20 feet (4.5-6 m)
Plant Spread: 10 to 15 feet (3-4.5 m)
Leaves: Evergreen
Needled
Fruit: Edible to birds
Suitable Locations: Xeriscapic
Edible Parts: Fruit
Resistances: Drought tolerant
Propagation: Seeds: Self fertile
Pollinators: Wind
Containers: Not suitable for containers
Miscellaneous: Tolerates poor soil
Conservation status: Least Concern (LC)

Conservation status:
Conservation status: Least Concern
Image
Common names
  • Two-Needle Pinon Pine
  • Pinyon Pine
  • Pinyon
  • Rocky Mountain Pinyon Pine
  • Nut Pine
  • Colorado Pinyon Pine
  • Two-needle Pine
  • Colorado Pinyon

Photo Gallery
Location: Sunset Crater National Monument, Arizona
Date: 2015-05-11
Immature cones
Location: Capitol Reef, Utah
Date: 2015-09-20
Location: Devils Garden, Arches National Park, Grand County, Utah, United States
Date: 2021-03-12
A very old tree.
Location: Clover Canyon, Arches National Park, Grand County, Utah, United States
Date: 2022-01-01
Location: Capitol Reef, Utah
Date: 2015-09-19
Location: Capitol Reef, Utah
Date: 2015-09-19
Location: Sinkhole Flat, San Rafael Swell, Emery County, Utah, United States
Date: 2016-07-15
Location: Devils Garden, Arches National Park, Grand County, Utah, United States
Date: 2021-03-12
Location: Denver CO Metro
Date: 2012-01-27
30 year old pinon in my neighborhood.
Location: Broken Arch, Arches National Park, Grand County, Utah, United States
Date: 2022-01-01
Location: Capitol Reef, Utah
Date: 2015-09-20
Location: Las Cruces, NM
Date: Apr 16, 2012
Young cone
Location: Sinkhole Flat, San Rafael Swell, Emery County, Utah, United States
Date: 2016-07-15
Location: Morton Arboretum in Lisle, Illinois
Date: 2019-11-24
two maturing trees
Location: Morton Arboretum in Lisle, Illinois
Date: 2019-11-24
foliage with tag
Location: Devils Garden, Arches National Park, Grand County, Utah, United States
Date: 2021-03-12
Location: Botanical Garden München-Nymphenburg, Munich, Germany.
Date: June
credit: snowpeak
Location: Broken Arch, Arches National Park, Grand County, Utah, United States
Date: 2022-01-01
Location: Las Cruces, NM
Date: Apr 16, 2012
Location: Las Cruces, NM
Date: Apr 16, 2012
Spent cone
Location: Las Cruces, NM
Date: Apr 16, 2012
Location: Las Cruces, NM
Date: Apr 16, 2012
Location: Morton Arboretum in Lisle, Illinois
Date: 2019-11-24
the bigger tree in the Conifer Collection
This plant is tagged in:
Image

Comments:
  • Posted by robertduval14 (Milford, New Hampshire - Zone 5b) on Apr 19, 2013 3:35 PM concerning plant:
    New Mexico's state tree.
  • Posted by ILPARW (southeast Pennsylvania - Zone 6b) on Dec 2, 2019 8:28 AM concerning plant:
    I never expected to find any kind of Pinyon Pine in northeast Illinois, but Morton Arboretum did have two specimens in their Conifer Collection that I came upon them in November of 2019. I thought the more humid climate would be too much for these western plants. I have seen this Two-leaved Pinyon Pine on the mountain slopes of northern Arizona in 1970 and then in 1992. This is the most abundant species of four different species of Pinyon Pine in the southwestern US and Mexico. This specific species is native to dry mountain slopes, mesas, and plateaus of northern Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, and some areas nearby that, even a little into Mexico. The bluish-green needles of this species is mostly in 2's, but can have some singly or in 3's and about 0.8 to 1.6 inches long. The tree grows 20 to 65 feet high with a dense, conic-rounded crown. The bark is red-brown and is shallowly and irregularly furrowed with rounded scaly ridges. The short, fat cones about 1.4 to 2 inches long and wide have thick scales and hold the large seeds deeply in the cones so that they do not fall out easily and are more available for birds to eat. The seeds are edible for humans too. It grows about 6 to 12 inches/year.

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