General: Great Basin Bristlecone Pines (Pinus longaeva) are coniferous (cone-bearing) trees with short, roundish needles set in bundles of 5, and the bundles that radiate in all directions from the twigs. The needles are crowded into bottle-brushes at the ends of the branches. The cones are sappy, prickly, cylindrical, and about 4-inches long.

In Nevada, Great Basin Bristlecone Pine is the dominant component of the montane vegetation in the Spring and Sheep mountains in the Hudsonian (Bristlecone Forest) life zone.

For many more photos of bristlecone pine, see the North Loop Trail (Mt. Charleston) webpage.

Family: Pine (Pinaceae).

Other Names: Western Bristlecone Pine, Pinus aristata.

Plant Form: Tall straight tree in sheltered areas; short, twisted, and gnarled in more exposed locations.

Height: To 40 ft tall; strongly tapered upward.

Trunk: To 2.5 ft diameter.

Bark: Whitish and smooth on young trees; reddish brown, scaly, fissured on mature trees.

Branches: Gracefully spreading or twisted and gnarled, depending on location.

Needles: Dark green, curved, 1/2 to 1-1/2 inch long; bundles of 5; crowded, forming bottlebrush-like branch ends.

Cones: Oblong, 2- to 5.5-inches long, dark purple brown, hanging, each scale tipped with a stiff, 1/4-inch long, incurved spine.

Seeds:

Habitat: Higher elevations in desert mountains.

Elevation: 7,200 to 12,000 feet.

Distribution: California to eastern Utah.

Comments: This is the common tree at high elevations in the Spring and Sheep Mountains.