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Pinus ponderosa
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<p><i>Pinus ponderosa</i>, commonly known as the ponderosa pine, bull pine, blackjack pine, western yellow-pine, or filipinus pine, is a very large <a href="/facts/Pinus/HvMa9uc1">pine</a> tree species of variable habitat <a href="/facts/Native_plant/03kpM3rf">native</a> to mountainous regions of western <a href="/facts/North_America/djNjCQIl">North America</a>. It is the most widely distributed pine species in North America.: 4 </p><p><i>Pinus ponderosa</i> grows in various erect forms from <a href="/facts/British_Columbia/Ty3e3g1Q">British Columbia</a> southward and eastward through 16 western <a href="/facts/U.S._state/PFwcRIYQ">U.S. states</a> and has been introduced in temperate regions of Europe and in New Zealand. It was first documented in modern science in 1826 in eastern <a href="/facts/Washington_(state)/7tCrTFnN">Washington</a> near present-day <a href="/facts/Spokane%2c_Washington/fpC9eCfh">Spokane</a> (of which it is the official city tree). On that occasion, <a href="/facts/David_Douglas_(botanist)/D8cQHMTS">David Douglas</a> misidentified it as <i><a href="/facts/Pinus_resinosa/uF7q3TT9">Pinus resinosa</a></i> (red pine). In 1829, Douglas concluded that he had a new pine among his specimens and coined the name <i>Pinus ponderosa</i> for its heavy wood. In 1836, it was formally named and described by <a href="/facts/Charles_Lawson_(nurseryman)/QhlkJoHI">Charles Lawson</a>, a Scottish nurseryman. It was adopted as the official state tree of <a href="/facts/Montana/jPFKMuK5">Montana</a> in 1949. </p>