Monterey pine is a coastal tree found only in scattered locations in the fog belt of California—primarily in Monterey, Santa Cruz, and San Mateo counties.

Like all pines Pinus radiata features bundled needles; in this case the needles are bundled in threes and are about 4–6 inches long. The cones of Monterey pine are large, closed, distinctively asymmetrical, and lack prickles. Cones often remain closed on the branch for years. The tree has an open, rounded crown, and bark that is thin and whitish when young but becomes deeply furrowed and brown to nearly black with age.

Frequent mushroom associates include Amanita muscaria flavivolvata, species of Russula, Suillus pungens, species of Tricholoma, and many others.

tightly closed cones remain on branches for years

open, rounded crown

distributed in California's fog belt

needles

large, asymmetrical cones that lack prickles

needles in bundles of 3

young bark

mature bark

Kuo, Michael (May, 2020). Pinus radiata (Monterey pine). Retrieved from the MushroomExpert.com website: www.mushroomexpert.com/trees/pinus_radiata.html

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