[4] Pinus monophylla is a small to medium size tree, reaching 10–20 m (33–66 ft) tall and with a trunk diameter of up to 80 cm (31+1⁄2 in) rarely more.

Empty pine nuts with undeveloped seeds (self-pollinated) are a light tan color, while the "good" ones are dark brown.

[5] The pine nuts are dispersed by the pinyon jay, which plucks the seeds out of the open cones, choosing only the dark ones and leaving the light ones (as in image at right).

[8] The edible seeds, pine nuts, are collected throughout its range; Native American of the Great Basin region commonly ate them.

[11] Single-leaf pinyon is also cultivated as an ornamental tree for native plant, drought tolerant, and wildlife gardens, and for natural landscaping.

During the mid-nineteenth century, many pinyon groves were cut down to make charcoal for ore-processing, threatening the traditional lifestyle of the Native Americans who depended on them for food.

Efforts to clear these woodlands, often using a surplus battleship chain dragged between two bulldozers, peaked in the 1950s, but were subsequently abandoned when no long term forage increase resulted.

The habitat destruction of large areas of Pinyon woodlands in the interests of mining and cattle ranching is seen by some as an act of ecological and cultural vandalism.