Nevada State Trees

Singleleaf Pinyon, Bristlecone Pine, and the Colorado Blue Spruce

Singleleaf Pinyon

(Pinaceae Pinus monophylla )

Adopted in 1959.

The pinon pine, Pinaceae Pinus monophylla, was the first tree adopted as a symbol by Nevada. The Single-Leaf Pinon is an aromatic pine tree with short, stiff needles and gnarled branches. It was adopted in 1959.

The tree grows in coarse, rocky soils and rock crevices. Though its normal height is about 15 feet, the single-leaf pinon can grow as high as 50 feet under ideal conditions

Description of the Nevada State Tree

Singleleaf pinyon (Pinus monophylla), also called pinyon, nut pine, one-leaf pine, and piñon (Spanish), is a slow-growing, low, spreading tree that grows on dry, low mountain slopes of the Great Basin. One large tree near Reno, NV, is about 112 cm (44.2 in) in d.b.h., 16.2 m (53 ft) tall, and has a crown spread of about 20 m (66 ft). Principal uses of the tree include fuel, fenceposts, Christmas trees, and edible seeds

Identification

• Bark: is in old trees, thick, scaly, divided by longitudinal and horizontal furrows; in young trees thin and smooth.
• Branchlets: light gray, rough, pubescent; bases of the leaf bracts are not decurrent.
• Leaves: in fascicles of 5, rarely 4, slightly curved, 1.5-4.0 cm long, 0.5-1.5 mm thick; margins entire, stomata primarily on the ventral surfaces with an occasional row on the dorsal surface; resin canals 2, rarely 1 or 3, dorsal; fibrovascular bundle single; the leaves bright green on the dorsal surface and silver-colored (lines of stomata) on the ventral surfaces; connate (united) during the first year. Sheaths of the leaves 5-9 mm long, curled into persistent rosettes, later deciduous.
• Conelets: borne singly and in pairs on slender, short peduncles; globose with thick, transversely keeled scales.
• Cones: subglobose; symmetrical; 3.5-5.0 cm long, 4.5-7.0 cm wide when open; yellow to ochre colored; dehiscent; deciduous when mature, the peduncle very small and falling with the cone.
• Cone scales: few; the apophysis rhomboidal, transversely keeled; the umbo dorsal, flat to depressed, bearing a minute early deciduous prickle. Only the central scales are seed-bearing.
• Seeds: brown; wingless; 14-17 mm long, 6-8 mm wide; the seed coat very thin, 0.2-0.3 mm thick; the endosperm white"
• Form: "A small pine up to 15 m tall. In mature trees the crown is irregularly rounded; in young trees it is thicker and narrowly pyramidal.

Code

NRS 235.040 State trees. The trees known as the Singleleaf Pinyon (Pinus monophylla) and the Bristlecone Pine(Pinus longaeva) are hereby designated as the official state trees of the State of Nevada.

[1:72:1953] - (NRS A 1959, 107; 1987, 785; 1997, 1604)

Taxonomic Hierarchy of Singleleaf Pinyo

Nevada State Tree

Bristlecone Pine

(Pinaceae Pinus aristata)

Adopted in 1987.

Students from Ely, Nevada had the bristlecone pine adopted as a symbol for our state. The bristlecone pine is the oldest living thing on Earth, with some specimens in Nevada more than 4,000 years of age. The tree can be found at high elevations. Normal height for older trees is about 15 to 30 feet, although some have attained a height of 60 feet. Diameter growth continues throughout the long life of the tree, resulting in massive trunks with a few contorted limbs.

Description of the Nevada State Tree

The Bristlecone Pine (Pinus aristata) shares the state tree designation. The bristlecone pine is the oldest living thing on Earth, with some specimens in Nevada more than 4,000 years of age. The tree can be found at high elevations. Normal height for older trees is about 15 to 30 feet, although some have attained a height of 60 feet. Diameter growth continues throughout the long life of the tree, resulting in massive trunks with a few contorted limbs.

Identification

• Leaf: Acicular, short (1 to 1 1/2 inches long), curved, fascicles of 5, dark green but usually covered with white dots of dried resin. Remain on tree for 10-17 years, giving a bushy appearance that resembles a fox's tail.
• Flower: Monoecious; male cones small, dark orange and often clustered near the ends of branches; female cones occur singly or in pairs near the ends of branches.
• Fruit: Moderate sized woody cone (about 3 inches long) with a short stalk; imbricate scales are thickened and tipped with a long bristle, giving rise to its common name. Seeds are winged.
• Twig: Orange-brown when young but darkening with age.
• Bark: Young bark is thin, smooth, and gray-white later becoming furrowed and reddish-brown. Old trees on harsh, windy sites may have only a few strands of bark remaining in crevices where it is protected from sandblasting winds.
• Form: Typically small

Code

NRS 235.040 State trees. The trees known as the Singleleaf Pinyon (Pinus monophylla) and the Bristlecone Pine(Pinus longaeva) are hereby designated as the official state trees of the State of Nevada.

[1:72:1953] - (NRS A 1959, 107; 1987, 785; 1997, 1604)

Taxonomic Hierarchy of the Bristlecone Pine

Source:
Dendrology at Virginia Tech
Gymnosperm Database
US Department of Agriculture

Nevada State Christmas Tree

Colorado Blue Spruce

Approved for Decoration on December 15, 1937

State Christmas State Tree: A Colorado blue spruce planted near the state capitol in 1876 by George Washington Gale Ferris, Sr. (father of the inventor of the Ferris Wheel) was approved for decoration with Christmas lights on December 15, 1937

after a club in Carson City asked a state board “to authorize the electric lighting of the fir tree in the Capitol Square.” The tradition continued until 1972, when the lights were turned off to save energy, then resurrected in 1988. The blue spruce, approximately 95 feet tall, was part of the first major landscaping project around the Capitol.

Description of the Nevada State Christmas Tree

It is a slow-growing, long-lived tree of medium size that, because of its symmetry and color, is planted extensively as an ornamental. Because blue spruce is relatively scarce and the wood is brittle and often full of knots, it is not an important timber tree.

Identification

• Leaf: Evergreen, stiff, 3/4 to 1 1/4 inch long, yellow-green to bluish or white. Needles are very sharp, and have an acidic taste.
  Flower: Monoecious; males yellow-brown to purple, scattered throughout trees; females purple, upright, in tops of the trees.
• Fruit: Cones are 2 to 4 inches long, cylindrical, light brown in color. Cone scales are pointed with jagged-erose margins. Maturing in autumn.
• Twig: Stout (when compared to other spruces), hairless, orange-brown. Needles are borne on woody pegs. Bud scales are noticeably reflexed.
• Bark: Gray to red-brown, young trees with small, thin scales - older trees developing furrows.
• Form: A medium to large tree with pyramidal form. Branches appear layered, especially with age.

Taxonomic Hierarchy of the Bristlecone Pine