The scientific botanical name with the standard spelling sabiniana commemorates Joseph Sabine, secretary of the Horticultural Society of London.

The proposal has not been accepted by the relevant authorities (i.e. United States Department of Agriculture, The Jepson Manual or Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

Pinus sabiniana grows at elevations between sea level and 1,200 m (4,000 ft) and is common in the northern and interior portions of the California Floristic Province.

Fossil evidence suggests that it has only recently become adapted to the Mediterranean climate as its closest relatives are part of the Madrean pine-oak woodlands found at higher elevations in the southwest US and Mexico.

[25] Wood uses historically were determined by its particular characteristics, e.g., 0.43 mean specific gravity nearly equal to Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii); strength properties similar to ponderosa pine; Kraft pulps high in bursting with tensile strength comparable to some northern conifer pulps; and foothill stands loggable in winter, when higher-altitude species were inaccessible.

However, the high amounts of resin and compression wood, the often crooked form, heavy weight, and low stand density, made it expensive otherwise to log, transport and process.

[25] The main turpentine constituent, heptane, an alkane hydrocarbon, at about 3 percent of needle and twig oil,[25] is unusual in botany; the only other source in nature perhaps being the Pittosporum resiniferum, known as "petroleum nut" or kerosene tree.