Foothill pine

Gray pine
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Pinophyta Class: Pinopsida Order: Pinales Family: Pinaceae Genus: Pinus Species: sabineana
Binomial name
Pinus sabineana

The Gray pine or Foothill pine Pinus sabineana was formerly known as the Digger pine. It has many other common names, including California foothill pine, bull pine and nut pine; it is also sometimes referred to as a pinyon pine, though it does not belong to that group.

The Gray pine is endemic to California. It grows at elevations between sea level and 1200 meters, and is found throughout the state except for the most southerly counties and the western counties south of Lake Tahoe. It grows in rocky soil under dry conditions. It commonly occurs in association with Blue oak Quercus douglasii, and "Oak - Gray Pine vegetation" (or, more usually, "Oak - Foothill Pine vegetation") is used as a description of a kind of habitat characteristic of California, found throughout the hills that ring the Central Valley. In this habitat, the Gray pine provides a sparse overstory above a canopy of oaks.

The needles of the Gray Pine are sparse and drooping, and grow to 20-30 cm in length. The tree typically grows to 12-15 meters, but can reach 35 meters in height. The cones are large and heavy, 12-35 cm in length and almost as wide as they are long. Male cones grow at the tips of the lower branches.

The former name of Digger pine for this tree comes from the fact that Native Americans foraged for its seeds by digging around the base of the tree, but the name is now considered derogatory, though it is still the name in commonest use. The scientific name commemorates Joseph Sabine, UK botanist, 1770-1837. It was original spelled sabiniana; this was a typographical error, and it has recently been corrected to sabineana. However the revised spelling has not yet passed into general use, and the spelling sabiniana is the one that will almost invariably be encountered.

Cone of Gray pine

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