The Coulter Pine or Big-cone Pine (Pinus coulteri) is a native of the coastal mountains of southern California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

 (United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

) and northern Baja California

Baja California

Baja California officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is both the northernmost and westernmost state of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1953, the area was known as the North...

 (Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

). Isolated groves are found as far north as the San Francisco Bay Area in Mt. Diablo State Park and Black Diamond Mines Regional Preserve

Black Diamond Mines Regional Preserve

The Black Diamond Mines Regional Preserve is a 6,000-acre park located north of Mount Diablo in Contra Costa County, California under the administration of the East Bay Regional Park District. The 60 miles of trails in the Preserve cross rolling foothill terrain covered with grassland, California...

. The species is named after Thomas Coulter

Thomas Coulter

Thomas Coulter , of Dundalk, was an Irish physician, botanist, and explorer. He was a member of the Royal Irish Academy, and a fellow of Trinity College, Dublin, where he founded the college's herbarium....

, an Irish

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

 botanist and physician.

The size ranges from 10-24 m (30-80 ft) tall, and a trunk diameter up to 1 m (3 ft). The trunk is vertical and branches horizontal to upcurved. The leaves

Leaf

A leaf is an organ of a vascular plant, as defined in botanical terms, and in particular in plant morphology. Foliage is a mass noun that refers to leaves as a feature of plants....

 are needle-like, in bundles of three, glaucous gray-green, 15-30 cm (6-12 in) long and stout, 2 mm (0.01 in) thick. The outstanding characteristic of this tree is the large, spiny cones

Conifer cone

A cone is an organ on plants in the division Pinophyta that contains the reproductive structures. The familiar woody cone is the female cone, which produces seeds. The male cones, which produce pollen, are usually herbaceous and much less conspicuous even at full maturity...

 which are 20-40 cm (8-16 in) long, and weigh 2-5 kg (4-10 lbs) when fresh. Coulter Pines produce the largest cones of any pine tree species (people are actually advised to wear hardhats when working in Coulter Pine groves), although the slender cones of the sugar pine

Sugar Pine

Pinus lambertiana, commonly known as the sugar pine or sugar cone pine, is the tallest and most massive pine, with the longest cones of any conifer...

 are longer. The large size of the cones has earned them the nickname "widowmakers" among locals. The wood is weak and soft, so that the species is little used other than for firewood. It is also occasionally planted as an ornamental tree in parks and large gardens.

Ecology

This erect, medium-sized pine

Pine

Pines are trees in the genus Pinus ,in the family Pinaceae. They make up the monotypic subfamily Pinoideae. There are about 115 species of pine, although different authorities accept between 105 and 125 species.-Etymology:...

 prefers south-facing slopes between 200-2300 m (600-7500 ft) elevation, and tolerates dry rocky soil. Pinus coulteri most often appears in mixed forests. The Coulter Pine occurs in a number of forest plant associations; for example, At higher elevations forestation of the San Jacinto Mountains

San Jacinto Mountains

The San Jacinto Mountains are a mountain range east of Los Angeles in southern California in the United States. The mountains are named for Saint Hyacinth . The Pacific Crest Trail runs along the spine of the range.The range extends for approximately from the San Bernardino Mountains southeast to...

 Coulter Pine is co-dominant with the California Black Oak

California Black Oak

Quercus kelloggii, the California Black Oak, also known as simply Black Oak, or Kellogg Oak, is an oak in the red oak section , native to western North America...

. Woodpecker

Woodpecker

Woodpeckers are near passerine birds of the order Piciformes. They are one subfamily in the family Picidae, which also includes the piculets and wrynecks. They are found worldwide and include about 180 species....

s often forage on the species, and peel the bark to access insects underneath.