General: Great Basin Bristlecone Pine (Pinus longaeva) is a coniferous (cone-bearing) tree with short, roundish needles in bundles of 5 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.

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.