Coulter?s Pine or Big Cone Pine is a large conifer  gray to green in color  and growing in a roughly pyramidal shape from 30? to 70? in height  with a spread of 20? to 30?.  The stiff  dark green needles on this pine tree are 12? long  and the tree bears the world?s largest and heaviest pine cones  measuring 7? to 16? long and weighing 4 to 5 pounds or more.  A person familiar with Big Cone pine justly described their giant cones as ?pineapple sized?? and also mentioned taking caution when walking around underneath the trees when the cones are ready to drop!  The bark on Coulter?s pine is gray  flakey and furrowed.  Coulter?s pine is drought tolerant  thriving in warmth and on dry rocky slopes  which would make it an excellent large screen. Pinus coulteri grows well with oaks  manzanita and Ceanonthus.  Once established  Coulter?s pine needs little supplemental water if at all.  Birds and squirrels love to eat the pine seeds  which were an important food source for Native Americans.  Thomas Coulter  an Irish botanist  lent his name to this pine when he stumbled upon it in 1831 while collecting plants in California and Mexico.