PONDEROSA PINE

Description

Color/Appearance: Heartwood is reddish brown, sapwood is yellowish white.

Grain/Texture: Straight grained with medium texture.

Endgrain: Medium-large resin canals, numerous and evenly distributed, mostly solitary; earlywood to latewood transition fairly abrupt, color contrast can vary depending on growth ring spacing; tracheid diameter medium-large.

Rot Resistance: The heartwood is rated as moderate to low in decay resistance.

Workability: Ponderosa pine works well with both hand and machine tools. Glues and finishes well.

Odor: Ponderosa Pine has a faint, resinous odor while being worked.

Allergies/Toxicity: Working with pine has been reported to cause allergic skin reactions and/or asthma-like symptoms in some people. See the articles Wood Allergies and Toxicity and Wood Dust Safety for more information.

Pricing/Availability: Ponderosa Pine has a very wide distribution throughout western North America, and is one of the most important lumber species in the western United States. It should be widely available as construction lumber for a modest price. Some Ponderosa Pine is mixed with Lodgepole Pine and sold together as construction lumber under the stamp “PP/LP”.

Sustainability: This wood species is not listed in the CITES Appendices, and is reported by the IUCN as being a species of least concern.

Common Uses: Veneer, plywood, sheathing, subflooring, boxes, crates, posts/poles, interior trim, cabinetry, and construction lumber.

Comments: Although Ponderosa Pine is technically classified as a yellow (hard) pine, it shares many characteristics with white (soft) pines, having a considerably lower density than the yellow pine species found in the eastern United States. The city of Flagstaff, Arizona was named for a flagpole made of Ponderosa Pine that was used to raise a United States flag (then 37 stars) during a centennial ceremony on July 4, 1876.

Related Species:

• Austrian Pine (Pinus nigra)
• Caribbean Pine (Pinus caribaea)
• Eastern White Pine (Pinus strobus)
• Jack Pine (Pinus banksiana)
• Jeffrey Pine (Pinus jeffreyi)
• Khasi Pine (Pinus kesiya)
• Limber Pine (Pinus flexilis)
• Loblolly Pine (Pinus taeda)
• Lodgepole Pine (Pinus contorta)
• Longleaf Pine (Pinus palustris)
• Maritime Pine (Pinus pinaster)
• Ocote Pine (Pinus oocarpa)
• Patula Pine (Pinus patula)
• Pinyon Pine (Pinus edulis)
• Pitch Pine (Pinus rigida)
• Pond Pine (Pinus serotina)
• Radiata Pine (Pinus radiata)
• Red Pine (Pinus resinosa)
• Sand Pine (Pinus clausa)
• Scots Pine (Pinus sylvestris)
• Shortleaf Pine (Pinus echinata)
• Slash Pine (Pinus elliottii)
• Spruce Pine (Pinus glabra)
• Sugar Pine (Pinus lambertiana)
• Sumatran Pine (Pinus merkusii)
• Table Mountain Pine (Pinus pungens)
• Western White Pine (Pinus monticola)
• Virginia Pine (Pinus virginiana)

Related Articles:

• Pine Wood: An Overall Guide