Yosemite National Park also has the third tallest, measured to 80.5 m (264 ft 1 in) tall as of June 2013; the Rim Fire affected this specimen, but it survived.

[2] Like all members of the white pine group (Pinus subgenus Strobus), the leaves ("needles") grow in fascicles ("bundles") of five[2] with a deciduous sheath.

[4] Sugar pine is notable for having the longest cones of any conifer, mostly 10–50 cm (4–19+3⁄4 in) long,[2][5] exceptionally to 60 cm (23+1⁄2 in) long[citation needed] (although the cones of the Coulter pine are more massive); their unripe weight of 1–2 kilograms (2.2–4.4 lb) makes them perilous projectiles when chewed off by squirrels.

[8] In late stage of embryonal development, the sugar pine embryo changes from a smooth and narrow paraboloid to a less symmetric structure.

The root initial zone is established, and the epicotyl develops as an anlage flanked by regions of that define the cotyledonary buttresses.

[9] The shoot apex has the following four zones:[10] Naturalist John Muir considered sugar pine to be the "king of the conifers".

[14] Black bears (Ursus americanus) feed on sugar pine seeds in the fall months within the Sierra Nevada.

Both sugar pine and oak species are currently in decline, directly affecting black bear food sources within the Sierra Nevada.

Blister rust is much less common in California, where sugar, Western white and whitebark pines still survive in great numbers.

Climate change presents a threat to species health: higher temperatures can decrease resin levels within the trees, weakening defenses against pathogens.

The weakened or dying trees then provide fuel for forest fires, which may become more frequent and more intense with rising summer temperatures, particularly if coupled with drier conditions and stronger winds.

[22] According to David Douglas, who was guided to the (exceptionally thick) tree specimen he was looking for by a Native American,[2] some tribes ate the sweetish seeds.

[2] The sweet sap or pitch was consumed, in small quantities due to its laxative properties,[23] but could also be chewed as gum.

[23] The wood was also long used for piano keys; in 1907 or 1908 the Connection piano-action maker Pratt, Read & Co. purchased "950,000 feet of clear sugar pine" for that use in & around Placerville, CA.

[24] In the Achomawi creation myth, Annikadel, the creator, makes one of the 'First People' by intentionally dropping a sugar pine seed in a place where it can grow.