Located in the beautiful mountain town of Idyllwild, California, the center is sits on more than an acre of Douglas Fir, Redwood, and
Coulter pine trees and features a large contemplative garden.
"There will be a record of the
Coulter pine shifting up Mount Hamilton," Howe says.
It has been recorded from about 40 species of conifers, mostly from pines (Pinales: Pina ceae), e.g.,
Coulter pine (Pinus coulteri D.
But for sheer mass, even they can't match the cones of California's
Coulter pine. Measuring 8 to 18 inches long and up to 7 inches across, those cones weigh in at a whopping 4 to 10 pounds when green.
Take the
Coulter pine. A native of the coastal mountains of southern California, its spiny cones are the largest of any conifer and can weigh as much as 10 pounds, earning them the nickname "widow makers." Last year, when the Station Fire roared through the hills near Los Angeles, it devastated the native
Coulter pines, burning them so intensely that the flames destroyed the cones despite their evolved capacity to open with the heat of fire.
Native seedlings of
coulter pine, white fir, and bigcone Douglas-fir are being handed out to private landowners who have lost trees either from the 2003 wildfires or bark beetle infestation.
The average champion tree in California is 301 points, roughly equivalent to its national champion
Coulter pine, which stands 141 feet tall and 4 feet thick in San Diego County.
Table : The principal bark beetle culprits in California: BARK BEETLE HOST TREES Western pine beetle Ponderosa pine,
Coulter pineAmong conifers, sugar pines have the longest cones (up to 23 inches), and
Coulter pines have the heaviest (more than 8 pounds), while giant sequoias have the thickest bark (up to 2 feet).
Joined by the Mojave Desert Resource Conservation District and other partners, we're planting 25,000 Jeffrey, sugar, ponderosa and
Coulter pines across more than 500 acres.
