Is the California foothill pine the same as a digger pine? Will it grow in the Pacific Northwest?
Foothill pine is a more acceptable common name for Pinus sabiniana. It is also referred to as gray pine, or ghost pine and, less commonly, see-through pine (because of its open, lacy structure). The name ‘digger pine’ originated during the California Gold Rush of the nineteenth century, when prospectors noticed Native Americans foraging (‘digging’) for pine nuts, roots, and bulbs. The gold-diggers referred to the native people as Digger Indians, a term that is now considered derogatory. James Hickman, editor of The Jepson Manual: Higher Plants of California (University of California Press), made a point of referring to the tree as foothill pine or gray pine, including a note asking people not to use the pejorative name: “I think this is better than not mentioning the issue at all.” In Sandra Strike’s Ethnobotany of the California Indians (Koeltz, 1994), the author says that Native Americans used a digging stick to forage bulbs and roots “without disturbing other plants. Natives were appalled when they saw the large holes and destruction caused by non-natives’ ‘modern’ digging tools. Many California Natives prefer that Pinus sabiniana be called ‘Gray Pine.'” The large cones of this pine were important as a food source, with seeds rich in oil and protein.
According to Arthur Lee Jacobson’s Trees of Seattle (2006), this three-needled pine with substantial cones, somewhat sparse, gray-tinted, and weeping foliage, is rare in Seattle. There are specimens in the Washington Park Arboretum, UW campus, the Chittenden Locks, and Rodgers Park. Because of its native range (which is mostly hot, dry, and rocky), the main thing you might want to consider is whether you can provide a site that has excellent drainage and warmth. In California, it is often found in growing near Ceanothus cuneatus and native oaks.