Two Needle Pinyon

(Pinus edulis)

Color Photographs: © by and courtesy of Charles Webber, California Academy of Sciences

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Two Needle Pinyon (Pinus edulis)

Identifying Characters: The deciduous bundle sheath on old needle bundles and the dry, pinyon-juniper habitat of this species will identify it as a pinyon. The edges of the needles are smooth and the number of needles in a bundle is primarily 2 (although rarely 1 and 3).

Similar Species: The edges of the needles are smooth in Two Needle Pinyon, but minutely toothed in Mexican Pinyon (Pinus cembroides). The ranges of Mexican Pinyon and Two Needle Pinyon do not overlap. The number of needles per bundle in Two Needle Pinyon is usually 2 (but rarely 3 or 1) in contrast to 3 needles in Mexican (rarely 2). Single-leaf Pinyon contains 1 needle (rarely 2) per bundle and Four-leaf Pinyon contains 4 needles per bundle.

Measurements: A small tree 15-35 feet in height and 1 to 2 feet in diameter.

Cones: 1.5 to 2 inches long, ovate to round; cones very resinous; cone scales thick and rounded; seeds large and wingless, edible.

Needles: Needles in bundles of 2 (rarely 3 or 1); length 0.75 to 1.5 inches in length, green to light green, thick; bundle sheath shed after the first year.

Bark: Gray to red-brown, rough, and furrowed into scaly ridges.

Native Range: Two Needle Pinyon trees predominate in pinyon-juniper woodlands of the semidesert zone, which cover nearly 24.7 million ha (61 million acres), extending from Texas to California (9). Woodlands in which pinyon is the major pine species cover about 14.9 million ha (36.9 million acres) in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. Outliers in California, Oklahoma, Texas, and Wyoming contribute a relatively insignificant acreage to the total. However, the outlier in California has been considered a population of 2-needled individuals of single-leaf pinyon (Pinus monophylla), and more recently, a new species, California single-needle pinyon (Pinus californiarum). (Silvics of North America. 1990. Agriculture Handbook 654.)

Habitat: Two Needles Pinyon Pine is usually found in drier open woodlands with juniper. It also occurs on dry, rocky foothills, canyons, mesas, and plateaus.

Notes: Two Needle Pinyon Pine is the predominant source of the edible Pinyon Nut. If you want to collect Pinyon Nuts, you must get them just as they ripen. Otherwise the wildlife of the region will clean them out. The European Pine Nut is a commonly available substitute for cooking purposes.