The Closed-Cone Pine Forest

Closed-cone coniferous forests are unique to California and occur along the coast from the northern border to Santa Barbara County. The forests were once wide-spread but are now close to extinction. MCBG's forest is especially precious because of its rarity as well as its gnarled beauty and the environment that supports a wide diversity of native plants and birds. The Bishop pine, Pinus muricata, and the Shore Pine, Pinus contorta var.contorta, are the dominant species of conifer in the forest.These pines have hard,pitch-covered cones. The seeds are released by fire. The fire melts the pitch and the cones release all of their seeds.The seeds fall to the nutrient rich ground and germinate.

The Bishop Pine has needles in bundles of 2, about 4 to 6 inches in length and are dull green, The trees grows between 40 and 80 feet in height and 2 to 3 feet in diameter.The bark is dark gray and very thick.

The Shore Pine is a variety of Lodgepole Pine.It is a short-lived tree.The needles are in pairs and are often twisted. The shore pines at the garden are shaped by the ocean winds and rarely grow very tall. They are an important shelter belt tree and protect shrubs and herbaceous plants from the brunt of the weather.

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	Native plants of MCBG