P. radiata is a versatile, fast-growing, medium-density softwood, suitable for a wide range of uses and valued for rapid growth, as well as desirable lumber and pulp qualities.

[5] Although P. radiata is extensively cultivated as a plantation timber in many temperate parts of the world,[7] it faces serious threats in its natural range,[8] due to the introduction of a fungal parasite, the pine pitch canker (Fusarium circinatum).

The ovulate cones are 7–17 cm (3–6+1⁄2 in) long, brown, ovoid (egg-shaped), and usually set asymmetrically on a branch, attached at an oblique angle.

In plantations the tree is commonly planted at 4 square meter spacing on a wide variety of landscapes from flat to moderately steep hills.

[9] Because of selective breeding and more recently the extensive use of growth factor seedlings, forests planted since the 1990s have very straight tall trunks without the problem of twin leaders.

[9] In the United States, it is native to three very limited areas located in Santa Cruz, Monterey, and San Luis Obispo Counties of California.

On Cedros Island, the pines are more abundant, being found in far greater numbers partly due to the lack of feral goats.

They are found at lower elevations than on Guadalupe, at around 285 to 690 m (935 to 2,264 ft), on the windward ridges and canyons of the north and central parts of the island.

[11] In Australia, New Zealand, and Spain it is the leading introduced tree[12] and in Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Kenya, and South Africa it is a major plantation species.

In some areas, the edges of the forest form a zone that supports chaparral species, including Malosma laurina, Diplacus stellatus, and the endemic Eriogonum molle.

[20] Efforts to remove large quantities of the non-native tree in areas of South Africa have resulted in significant increases in accessible water.

Most of the population was destroyed as tens of thousands of feral goats ate binata seedlings and caused soil erosion from the mid-19th century until just a few years ago.[when?]

With a program to remove the goats essentially complete by 2005, hundreds of young Guadalupe pines have started to grow up in habitat fenced after 2001, the first significant new growth in about 150 years.

[22] The University of California's Russell Reservation forestry research station hosts an orchard planted with 73 P. radiata seedlings from Guadalupe Island and plays an important role in conserving the binata variety.

The species is widely regarded as an environmental weed across southeastern and southwestern Australia[25] and the removal of individual plants beyond plantations is encouraged.

30 kilometres (19 miles) west of the Sydney city centre, there is a forest of introduced Monterey Pine trees in Prospect Hill, in the suburb of Pemulwuy.

[37] In the Iberian Peninsula since the nineteenth century they have been introduced mainly in the north area in order to take advantage of their wood for the manufacture of paper pulp and for shoring work in coal mines.

It is found in low altitude areas of the Autonomous Communities of Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria, the Basque Country, and in the north of the Canary Islands.

[38] The cultivar P. radiata (Aurea Group) 'Aurea' has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.

[39][40] P. radiata is widely used in private gardens and public landscapes in temperate California, and similar climates around the world.

Its fast growth makes it ideal for landscapes and forestry; in a good situation, P. radiata can reach its full height in 40 years or so.

[43] It holds screws and nails well and takes paint and stain without difficulty, and modern kiln dried timber is very easy to work.

P. radiata is used in house construction as weatherboards, posts, beams or plywood, in fencing, retaining walls, for concrete formers.

In 1958, New Zealand boat designer Des Townson started building 186 eleven-foot (3.35 m), cold-moulded Zephyr-class dinghies, using P. radiata.