I’ve spent enough time in Idaho’s forests that I feel like I should know more about how to identify Idaho’s pine trees.
Southern Idaho is a desert, but we still have some pine trees that thrive in dry climates. We’ll start with how to identify one of southern Idaho’s most prolific and noteworthy pine trees: the Ponderosa.
Ponderosa Pine (Pinus ponderosa)
The Latin word ponderosus means “heavy” or “weighty,” a fitting description for Ponderosa pine trees. The tallest living Ponderosa, according to the USDA, is in southwestern Oregon, standing at 268 feet tall. That’s a foot taller than the U.S. Bank building in downtown Boise.
But the average mature wild Ponderosa ranges between 150-200 feet tall. Ponderosa forests were once more common in Idaho than they are today, as they have been harvested for timber and replaced by Douglas firs.
Ponderosas love plentiful sunshine, and one way they get it is by being fire-resistant and surviving wildfires that kill off other species. (Wolfgang Kaehler / Getty)
However, when allowed to mature, Ponderosas are drought resistant and their plated bark is fire resistant. In fact, Ponderosas need ample sunshine, so fires clear out competition and leave the surviving Ponderosas with more room to grow. That’s part of why you’ll often find Ponderosas growing together and in sunny, dry climates like south-facing slopes — they actually thrive with moist, well-drained soil, but can adapt better than other species of pine trees.
You can recognize a Ponderosa by its height and thickness, but also by its characteristic bark. It’s often scaly and similar to puzzle pieces when mature, with deep ridges, and has an orange hue (plus, when the sun hits the bark, it gives off a vanilla-y scent). Its five to ten-inch long needles grow in groups of three and cluster in tufts at the end of branches, giving them a bushy appearance.
