Alternate name: Two-needle Pinyon
Family: Pinaceae, Pine view all from this family
Description Small, bushy, resinous tree with short trunk and compact, rounded, spreading crown.
Height: 15-35' (4.6-10.7 m).
Diameter: 1-2' (0.3-0.6 m) or more.
Needles: evergreen; 2 in bundle (sometimes 3 or 1); 3/4-1 1/2" (2-4 cm) long; stout, light green.
Bark: gray to reddish-brown, rough, furrowed into scaly ridges.
Cones: 1 1/2-2" (4-5 cm) long; egg-shaped, yellow-brown, resinous or sticky; opening and shedding; with thick, blunt cone-scales; seeds large, wingless, slightly thick-walled, oily, edible.
Habitat Open, orchardlike woodlands, alone or with junipers; on dry, rocky foothills, mesas, plateaus, and lower mountain slopes.
Range Southern Rocky Mountain region from Utah and Colorado south to New Mexico and Arizona; local in sw. Wyoming, extreme nw. Oklahoma, Trans-Pecos Texas, se. California, and Mexico; mostly at 5000-7000' (1524-2134 m).
Discussion The edible seeds, known as pinyon nuts, Indian nuts, pine nuts, and pinones (Spanish), are a wild, commercial nut crop. Eaten raw, roasted, and in candies, they were once a staple food of southwestern Indians. Pinyon ranks first among the native nut trees of the United States that are not also cultivated. Every autumn, local residents, especially Navajo Indians and Spanish-Americans, harvest quantities for the local and gourmet markets. However, most of these oily seeds are promptly devoured by pinyon jays, wild turkeys, woodrats or "packrats," bears, deer, and other wildlife. Small pinyons are popular Christmas trees. This species is the most common tree on the south rim of Grand Canyon National Park.
