The Ponderosa pine or western yellow pine, may have the most well-known name of any tree. It rings a bell with millions of people world wide who may not have seen the tree or even known it is a pine. But it was made famous by the popular television show Bonanza. Ponderosa is Spanish for ponderous (heavy, enormous), a name given for the tree's huge size at maturity.

This western pine bears bundles of two to three persistent needles from 5 to 11 inches long. They are an attractive yellow-green. The ponderosa pine grows as a narrow pyramid when young, then develops a bare trunk with a cluster of branches at the tip forming a cone or flat-topped crown. It reaches more than 100 feet in ideal conditions.

This pine is easily transplanted and prefers a deep, moist, well-drained loam. It needs full sun and is tolerant of alkaline soils.