Ponderosa Pine

Ponderosa pine, Pinus ponderosa, is a conifer of the family Pinaceae widespread across western North America from British Columbia to Mexico, typically forming open, park-like forests on dry montane slopes. Its long needles grow in bundles of three, and mature trees develop thick, plated, orange-brown bark that many people describe as smelling of vanilla or butterscotch when warmed by the sun; it is one of the most important timber pines of the American West.