Wikipedia Description of a Jeffrey Pinecone: Jeffrey Pine (Pinus jeffreyi), named in honor of its discoverer John Jeffrey, is a North American pine related to Ponderosa Pine. It occurs from southwest Oregon south through much of California (mainly in the Sierra Nevada), to northern Baja California in Mexico. It is a high altitude species; in the north of its range, it grows widely at 1500-2100 m altitude, and at 1800-2900 m in the south of its range.
The Jeffrey Pine is a large tree, reaching 25-40 m tall, rarely up to 53 m tall, though smaller when growing at or near tree line. The leaves are needle-like, in bundles of three, stout, glaucous gray-green, 12-23 cm long. The cones are 12-24 cm long, dark purple when immature, ripening pale brown, with thinly woody scales bearing a short, sharp inward-pointing barb. The seeds are 10-12 mm long, with a large (15-25 mm) wing.
It may be distinguished from Ponderosa Pine by the needles, which are glaucous, less bright green than those of Ponderosa Pine, and the stouter, heavier cones with larger seeds and inward-pointing barbs. Jeffrey Pine is also very distinct from Ponderosa Pine in its resin scent, variously described as reminiscent of vanilla, lemon, pineapple, violets, or apples; compared to the turpentine or odorless scent of Ponderosa Pine. This may be tested by breaking a small shoot or some needles, or by sampling the scent of the resin in between the plates of the bark. This difference in scent is related to the very unusual composition of the resin, with the volatile component made up almost entirely of pure n-heptane. Full-grown Jeffrey Pine is easily distinguished from Ponderosa Pine by the smaller scales of bark, as compared to the very large plates of more reddish-colored Ponderosa bark.
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