#bishop pine

Plant of the Day

Tuesday 25 March 2025

The prickly seed cones of Pinus muricata (Bishop pine, obispo, pricklecone pine, dwarf marine pine, umbrella pine, bull pine, pitch pine, Santa Cruz Island pine) can persist on a tree for many years. The cones mature in 2 years but may persist for up to 70 years or more; with old cones being enveloped by growing branches or the trunk. Seeds are released by fire from ‘serotinous’ pine cones melting the resin, opening up the cones and releasing seeds that are distributed by gravity and wind.

I spent a large part of my youth living deep in a forest that was relatively untamed, a temperate rainforest of bay laurel and Coastal live oak on the Inverness Ridge in California, part of the Point Reyes Peninsula north of San Francisco.

Dusk falls on Inverness Ridge

There are large stands of Bishop pine and Douglas fir on the same peninsula, much of which is a national park. I was spoilt for…