Pinus balfouriana

Foxtail pine is a member of the pine or Pinaceae family from California. Two distinct populations are found in the southern Klamath Mountains (subspecies balfouriana) and the southern Sierra Nevada (subspecies austrina) at elevations over 2,000 m. It generally reaches up to 20 m tall but can grow up to 35 m in height.

It is part of the group of 3 closely related species of bristlecone pines:

• Great Basin bristlecone pine (P. longaeva)
• Rocky Mountain bristlecone pine (P. aristata)
• Foxtail pine (P. balfouriana)

• Needles are in bundles of 5, 2–4 cm long, deep green on the outer face, and white on the inner faces; they persist for 10–15 years..
• Branches generally are in yearly whorls, growing contorted.
• Seed cones take 2 years to mature and are ovoid-cylindrical, 6–11 cm long and 3–4 cm broad when closed, with numerous thin, thick scales with central bristle-like spines 1 mm long. Needles are hardly, if at all, distinguishable from P. longaeva, but its strongly conic-based cones with distinctly shorter-prickled, sunken-centered umbos at once distinguish it from that species.
• Bark is thin, smooth, and gray-white on young trees, later becoming furrowed and reddish brown. Old trees on harsh sites may be highly weathered and have only a few strands of bark remaining in protected areas.