Pinus torreyana Torrey pine

Torrey pines soar above the Chinese pistaches at Rains along Bowdoin Street. Sairus Patel, 29 Dec 2018

Pinus torreyana seed cone. From Forest Trees of the Pacific Slope, George B. Sudworth, USDA, 1907

This rarest of pines in Northern America is richly represented at Stanford, with three immense specimens in the Arboretum, dozens around Rains Houses along Bowdoin Street (1988), a row of younger ones on the east side of Schwab Residential Center (2024), and a few others scattered across campus.

Once more widespread along the West Coast, the Torrey pine’s habitat is now confined to a narrow stretch of coastal cliff at Del Mar near San Diego (var. torreyana) and to Santa Rosa Island (var. insularis – “island form”). In contrast to the stunted, wind-battered trees of its native stands, the pine in cultivation soars upright to impressive size. Its rounded crown, upswept branches, and grayish-green foliage form a striking profile that can be mistaken for P. sabiniana, but the latter leans more, and its needles at branch tips droop rather than stand erect. At close range, the Torrey’s five-needle bundles immediately distinguish it. Cones are 4–6 inches long with small prickles and substantial seeds.

A colossus planted in 1898 just northwest of the intersection of Palm Drive and Arboretum Road towers over the surrounding coast live oaks at 110 feet. A similarly sized companion stands northwest of it. These are only some three feet shorter than the Wardholme, the largest Torrey pine in the country, planted in 1888 in Carpinteria – of var. insularis, interestingly: broader than it is tall, and with rounder cones. Stanford’s trees all appear to be of var. torreyana.

A third giant in the Arboretum looms on the edge of El Camino Real just west of the University Avenue underpass, a deliciously distracting sight as you whiz by on that historic thoroughfare. A younger group of four is south of it, about 75 yards northwest of the entrance gates on Palm Drive. Two grow at the northwest corner of the Allen Building; another pair was planted south of the Center for Academic Medicine (2021).

Further afield, two are on the south end of the Mora Drive bridge over I-280 in Los Altos and are visible from the freeway. A group of P. sabiniana, tantalizingly, also stands just south of the other side of the bridge. Practice distinguishing between them only if you are the car’s passenger!

· A simple key to campus pines

Name derivation: Pinus – Latin for pine; torreyana – Dr. John Torrey (1796–1873), who co-authored with Asa Gray the first Flora of North America.