Parry Pinyon

(Pinus quadrifolia)

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

Parry Pinyon (Pinus quadrifolia)

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 needles occur in bundles of four. All other Pinyons have 3 or fewer needles per bundle.

Similar Species: See Identifying Characters.

Measurements: A relatively small tree 20-40 feet tall and 1 to 1.5 feet in diameter.

Cones: 1.5 to 2.5 inches long ovate and resinous; cone scales thick, quadate with a small apical spine; seeks large, wingless, and edible.

Needles: Needles in bundles of 4 (rarely 3 or 5), sheath shed after the first year; needles thick and stiff, bright green with a whitish ventral surface.

Bark: Light gray in younger trees becoming red-brown and furrowed into scaly ridges in older individuals.

Native Range: Four-leaf Pinyon occurs in extreme south-central California and extends southward in Baja California del Norte.

Habitat: This species occurs in the dry mountains and foothills of its range. It commonly occurs with juniper like other Pinyon Pines.