A 1,500 year old tropical conifer in the high elevation chilly forests of Central America... Pectinopitys (formerly Prumnopitys) standleyi grows at an elevation of 9,000' in Costa Rica. It is a relative of the Rimu of New Zealand, the "strawberry pine" of Tasmania, and the "Buddhist Pine" (no relation to pines) common in horticulture and landscaping. This family evolved in the Triassic or Early Jurassic and that's what these forests feel like. The wood is a beautiful red, rot resistant lumber, b

Two of the Worlds Largest Pine Cones! The Coulter pine, Pinus coulteri, (right side) is a native of the coastal mountains of Southern California and northern Baja California (Mexico) and produces the largest pine cones (by volume) of any pine. Coulter pine trees can reach heights of over 100 feet tall with cones weighing over 10 pounds giving this tree the nickname “widow-maker”. The sugar pine, Pinus lambertiana, (left size) has the longest cones of any conifer. Sugar pines bear pinecones that