Nevada designated bristlecone pine (Pinus arisrata) as an official state tree in 1987; single-leaf pinon (Pinus monophylla)
was the first tree symbol of Nevada, adopted in 1953. The Single-Leaf Pinon is an aromatic pine tree with short, stiff needles and gnarled branches.
The tree grows in coarse, rocky soils and rock crevices. Though its normal height is about 15 feet, the single-leaf pinon can grow as high as 50
feet under ideal conditions. Principal uses of the tree include fuel, fenceposts, Christmas trees, and edible seeds
Nevada State Tree: Singleleaf
Singleleaf pinyon (Pinus monophylla), also called pinyon, nut pine, one-leaf pine, and piñon (Spanish), is a slow-growing, low,
spreading tree that grows on dry, low mountain slopes of the Great Basin. One large tree near Reno, NV, is about 112 cm (44.2 in) in d.b.h., 16.2 m
(53 ft) tall, and has a crown spread of about 20 m (66 ft).
Identification of the Singleleaf Pinyon
Pinus monophylla, (single-leaf pinyon), is a pine in the pinyon pine group, native to the United States and northwest Mexico.
The range is in southernmost Idaho, western Utah, Arizona, southwest New Mexico, Nevada, eastern and southern California and northern Baja California.
Bark: is in old trees, thick, scaly, divided by longitudinal and horizontal furrows; in young trees thin and smooth.
Branchlets: light gray, rough, pubescent; bases of the leaf bracts are not decurrent.
Leaves: in fascicles of 5, rarely 4, slightly curved, 1.5-4.0 cm long, 0.5-1.5 mm thick; margins entire, stomata primarily on the ventral
surfaces with an occasional row on the dorsal surface; resin canals 2, rarely 1 or 3, dorsal; fibrovascular bundle single; the leaves bright green
on the dorsal surface and silver-colored (lines of stomata) on the ventral surfaces; connate (united) during the first year. Sheaths of the leaves
5-9 mm long, curled into persistent rosettes, later deciduous.
Conelets: borne singly and in pairs on slender, short peduncles; globose with thick, transversely keeled scales.
Cones: subglobose; symmetrical; 3.5-5.0 cm long, 4.5-7.0 cm wide when open; yellow to ochre colored; dehiscent; deciduous when mature,
the peduncle very small and falling with the cone.
Cone scales: few; the apophysis rhomboidal, transversely keeled; the umbo dorsal, flat to depressed, bearing a minute early deciduous prickle.
Only the central scales are seed-bearing.
Seeds: brown; wingless; 14-17 mm long, 6-8 mm wide; the seed coat very thin, 0.2-0.3 mm thick; the endosperm white"
Form: "A small pine up to 15 m tall. In mature trees the crown is irregularly rounded; in young trees it is thicker and narrowly pyramidal.
The law designating the Singleleaf Pinyon as the official Nevada state tree is found in the Nevada Revised Statutes, Title 19, Chapter 235, Section
TITLE 19-MISCELLANEOUS MATTERS RELATED TO GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS
CHAPTER 235 - STATE EMBLEMS; GIFTS AND ENDOWMENTS
MISCELLANEOUS STATE EMBLEMS
NRS 235.040 State trees. The trees known as the Singleleaf Pinyon (Pinus monophylla) and the Bristlecone Pine (Pinus longaeva) are hereby designated
as the official state trees of the State of Nevada.
[1:72:1953] - (NRS A 1959, 107; 1987, 785; 1997, 1604)
Taxonomic Hierarchy: Singleleaf Pinyon
Kingdom: Plantae - Plants Subkingdom: Tracheobionta - Vascular plants Superdivision: Spermatophyta - Seed plants Division: Coniferophyta - Conifers Class: Pinopsida Order: Pinales Family: Pinaceae - Pine family Genus: Pinus L. - pine Species: Pinus monophylla Torr. & Frem. --singleleaf pinyon
All of the state trees, except the Hawaii state tree, are native to the state in which
they are designated.