Yosemite Sierra Flora and Fauna High Country

The tallest and among the most graceful pines of the Sierra, notable for producing the longest cones of any pine. In Yosemite sugar pines occur in mixed-conifer stands at mid elevations where they provide large seeds favored by squirrels and birds.

Tall tree with a straight trunk and open crown, needles usually in bundles of five, and unmistakably long, pendulous cones; bark smooth on young trees becoming furrowed on older trunks.

Common Confusions

• Ponderosa Pine Pinus ponderosa Sugar pine bears extremely long cones (often 20–50 cm) that hang conspicuously; ponderosa cones are much shorter and the bark pattern differs.
• Jeffrey Pine Pinus jeffreyi Jeffrey pine cones are stout with inward-pointing barbs and its bark has a distinct vanilla or pineapple scent in cross-section, unlike sugar pine's long dangling cones.