Monterey Pine Bowl

8” X 3” high made from a tree removed in Corona.

Pinus radiata, commonly known as Monterey pine, insignis pine or radiata pine, is a coniferous evergreen tree growing to between 15 – 30 m (49 – 98 ft) in height in the wild, but up to 60 m (200 ft) in cultivation in optimum conditions, with upward pointing branches and a rounded top. The leaves (‘needles’) are bright green, in clusters of three (two in var. binata), slender, 8 – 15 cm (3.1 – in) long and with a blunt tip. The cones are 7 – 17 cm (2.8 – 6.7 in) long, brown, ovoid (egg-shaped), and usually set asymmetrically on a branch, attached at an oblique angle. The bark is fissured and dark grey to brown. It is adapted to cope with stand-killing fire disturbance. Its cones are serotinous, i.e. they remain closed until opened by the heat of a forest fire; the abundant seeds are then discharged to regenerate on the burned forest floor. The cones may also burst open in hot weather.

It is native to three very limited areas located in Santa Cruz, Monterey Peninsula, and San Luis Obispo Counties in California, and also to Guadalupe and Cedros Islands in Mexico. Although Pinus radiata is extensively cultivated around the world for lumber, the version of the tree used in the lumber industry is vastly different from the native tree of Monterey. In its natural state, Monterey pine is a rare and endangered tree, and is twisted, knotty and full of sap/resin and not suitable for lumber.