Sugar pine holds an important place in the history of California. In addition to being the very tallest of the pines, sugar pine is one of longer lived of the pines. Overall, the needles appear short and stiff and give the sugar pine the appearance of having furry arms when looked at from a distance. Bark is resistent to low and moderate intensity fires. Becasue the cones hang on the ends of the long and sweeping branches, it is almost impossible for large seed eating birds to make a meal of the seeds.
Sugar pine is monoecious.
Cones begin development in July or August, but are not obvious until late spring. Pollination occurs in late May to early August. Fertilization does not occur until late in the following spring, about 12 months after pollination. After almost 2 years, the seeds are released from the cones. Wings are small compared to the size of the seeds and are thus not disperesed far from the parent plant.