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Long drooping needles 8-12 inches long grow sparsely on this pine which averages 40-50 feet and sometimes reaches 100 feet tall.
The big and heavy 6-14 inch cones are almost as wide as they are long.
Pine nuts are produced in female cones which grow next to the trunk in the tops of the trees.
The male cones are at the tips of the lower branches.
Native Americans would frequently dig around the base of this tree gathering the seeds; thus, the tree became known as a Digger Pine.
This common name is considered derogatory to the Native Americans today, and the tree is now known as a Gray Pine.
To sprout the seeds, plant the seeds in a deep container with soil mix kept moist.
(Photo: Brother Alfred Brousseau, St. Mary's College)
