Pinyon: The Desert Pine

The Edible Pine

May 24, 2006

Pinyon Pine (pinus edulis) is a beautiful though slow-growing tree, that offers incredible structure to a desert garden.

One of the "bones" of a desert garden, pinyon pine (also spelled pinion) is an extremely slow-growing tree of small to medium height. It may reach up to 35 feet, but the norm is more like 10 feet. The pinyon range is similar to the range of the one-seed juniper.

A native to high plains, mesas, plateaus (such as the immense Colorado plateau), canyons, foothills and lower mountain slopes, the pinion pine requires little water, produces wonderful cones (both male and female) and the nuts tend to be large for pine, and quite edible and tasty.

In fact, the nuts have been used for food for centuries by Native Americans and later by the Spanish. Now, the nuts are used in a variety of recipes, including Middle Eastern dishes.

Annual harvest of wild pinyon nuts exceeds a million pounds. Driving through the Southwest, one can find many roadside stands selling pinyon nuts, which have been collected in the wild.

The nuts are also a great source of food for songbirds, quail, squirrels, chipmunks, black bear and mule deer.

The extremely sticky pitch or sap was used for glue and to coat baskets by Puebloans and other Native Americans. The Navajo burn the resin to create fumes to cure head colds and the Hopis use the resin to waterproof and repair pottery.

The wood is highly prized for firewood all over the Southwest and West. The wood is also used to construct latillas and "coyote" fences, among other uses.

The gnarled trunk and branches of the pinyon exceptionally beautiful, and many southwesterners have been known to sit for hours under one in the heat of the day.

There is an especially attractive, uncommonly large, and presumably very old pinion growing in the arroyo behind my home. Last spring, we discovered a nest of barn owls, complete with fledglings, nestled among its branches.

In fact, the wild trees provide cover for a large number of desert residents. Robins, sparrows, mockingbirds, thrushes, owls and hawks nest in the thick cover provided by the short needles. Rabbits, squirrels, chipmunks and even coyotes live in excavated burrows beneath the branches.

Planting Pinions

Plant pinyons as you would any other tree, making the planting hole twice as big as the container. You do not need to amend the soil. Pinyon roots can push through caliche in their search for water and nutrients. Adding amendments to the hole can cause the plants to become rootbound and die.

Although pinyons are drought-tolerant, they do need some water to survive. Many wild pinyons in the Southwest (some hundreds of years old) were devastated by a bark beetle infestation several years ago. Although the bark beetles are always present, a severe drought weakened the pinyons to such a state that they became highly susceptible to damage caused by the beetle. Additionally, when the pinyons are stressed, they give out a scent (undetectable by humans but highly attractive to bark beetles) which draw the bark beetles to the weakened trees.

Nevertheless, if given a modicum of water (not too much), and a systemic is used to combat the bark beetle during times of high infestation (see your county agent or nursery tree expert), pinyons are a wonderful addition to any desert garden. Plant them in the transition zone, or in the arid zone of your garden. During high drought periods, water them one every two weeks.

You might check with your local nursery or search the internet to find a supplier. One word of caution: pinyon prefer alkaline soil (although, through the years, they will actually change the soil to a more acidic compound). There is no need to amend the soil when planting pinyons, especially if you live in the West or Southwest.