NATIONAL PARK SERVICE Forests of Yosemite, Sequoia, and General Grant National Parks

SUGAR PINE (PINUS LAMBERTIANA)

The sugar pine (figs. 9 and 10) is the king of all the pines of the world, both in size and beauty. Barring the sequoia only, it is the largest and most beautiful tree of the Sierra forests. Trees from 4 to 5 feet in diameter are common, while ones measuring 6 feet are not rare. Occasionally specimens are found measuring 7 and 8 feet in diameter, and the largest recorded diameter is about 10 feet.

FIG. 9.—Sugar pine (Pinus lambertiana) 61 inches in diameter.

The sugar pine belongs to the white pine group, its needles being in clusters of five. In youth its bark is a smooth, shining silvery gray and its branches are more wide-spreading and regular than are those of the yellow pine. In maturity the bark becomes closely fissured, and of a rich reddish brown color, its lower branches are dropped, leaving a long, clear shaft, and its long, large top branches spread horizontally in picturesque irregularity, drooping gracefully at the tips where hang its giant cones. The cones are cylindrical, and may be from a foot to 20 inches in length, by about 3 inches in diameter before they have opened.

In its distribution the sugar pine, unlike the yellow pine, is very closely restricted, being confined to the State of California, except for a comparatively short extension northward into southern Oregon, and a small and unimportant one southward into Lower California. Its occurrence has been discussed in connection with the type.

FIG. 10.—Sugar pine (Pinus lambertiana) and cone. Tree 6 feet in diameter.

The sugar pine is not a prolific seeder, bearing heavily only at intervals of from five to seven years. The seeds are large and sweet, and are harvested to such an extent by squirrels as to seriously reduce the supply available for the purposes of reproduction. The seeds need abundant moisture for sprouting, and the seedlings abundant light for growth. The latter seldom occur in dense numbers, as do those of the yellow pine, but are usually found scattered here and there among those of the other species composing the forest.

The growth of the sugar pine in youth is commonly less rapid than that of the yellow pine; but it continues with smaller decrease and for a longer time. At 12 inches in diameter, under average conditions, the sugar pine is 80 feet tall and about 70 years old; at 30 inches in diameter, it is 148 feet tall and 170 years old; at 60 inches in diameter, it is 180 feet tall and 400 years old; and at 80 inches in diameter, it is 185 feet tall and from 600 to 700 years old.

The sugar pine is remarkably free from diseases of the stem or trunk, and is usually free from diseases of the crown. A witches broom often develops small balls of distorted twigs and bluish leaves, but this does not often shorten the life of the tree. A bark beetle allied to the one which causes havoc in the yellow pine, attacks the sugar pine, but in the region of the national parks this attack is nothing like so extensive as in the case of the yellow pine. The sugar pine is probably more injured by fire than by any other single agency. Its bark is comparatively thin, and trees with heavy fire scars at the base are more common than in almost any other species.

The sugar-pine lumber produced in the United States in 1912 was 123.5 million feet, of which 97 per cent was cut in California and the remaining 3 per cent in Oregon. In spite of its narrow range and the smallness of its cut, in comparison with the total for the whole country, the remarkable technical qualities of its wood and the large size of its trees, which permits them to yield a large proportion of clear material, make sugar pine a species of importance to the lumber industry.