Pinyon Nuts

Pinus edulis

Illustration: Pinyon pine (Pinus edulis) cones with nuts

Identification: Small bushy pine of the high desert; short paired needles; small round cones yielding soft-shelled nuts.

Dangerous look-alikes: No toxic look-alike. Harvest is boom-and-bust — good mast years are legendary, poor years barren.

Edible parts: Nuts.

Season and habitat: Fall of mast years. Pinyon-juniper woodlands, 5,000–7,500 ft.

Preparation: Gather cones, heat to open, extract nuts; roast and crack. Buttery, rich — among the finest wild nuts on earth. Commercial 'pine nuts' are often this species.