Types of Light Colored Pine Trees

Light Green Needles

• The jelecote pine (Pinus patula) has descending, light-green needles. Often grown in weeping form, this Mexican native grows to 65 feet tall and produces large, brown cones. Jelecote pines are hardy in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 8 to 9 and tolerate a variety of site conditions.

Gray-Green Needles

• The single-leaf pinyon pine (Pinus monophylla) has gray-green needles and produces large, brown cones filled with edible nuts. Hardy in USDA zones 6 to 8, this North American native grows slowly to 25 feet tall in a conical shape. The Japanese white pine (Pinus parviflora) has 2- to 4-inch, gray-green needles that grow in a spiral. Often used as a specimen tree or for Bonsai, this Asian native grows up to 50 feet tall and wide. It's hardy in USDA zones 6 to 9 and tolerates moist to dry soil. Another gray-green-needled pine, the coulter pine (Pinus coulteri) grows up to 65 feet tall. This California native is hardy in USDA zones 8 to 9 and produces some of the largest cones of any pine at up to 12 inches long.

Multicolored Needles

• The knobcone pine (Pinus attenuata) has light-green and gray-green needles. Native to the Oregon and California coasts, this pine grows up to 65 feet tall with a slightly rounded canopy. It's hardy in USDA zones 7 to 8 and prefers slightly acidic soil. Bristlecone pines (Pinus aristata) have both white and dark-green needles for an overall light-colored effect. This slow-growing pine reaches heights of 35 feet and is hardy in USDA zones 4 to 8. The bristlecone pine grows in moist or dry sites.

Other Light-Colored Needles

• As its name suggests, the gray pine (Pinus sabiniana) has silvery-gray needles. The gray pine's 12-inch-long foliage grows in a spiral shape in clusters of three, making it a dramatic specimen tree. Gray pines produce large cones filled with edible seeds. They grow to 75 feet tall and are hardy in USDA zones 8 to 10.
  The white pine (Pinus strobus) has light, blue-green needles and is the only pine that produces needles in clusters of five. White pines are native to North America and grow up to 150 feet tall in their native habitat, though they generally reach heights to 80 feet when grown as ornamentals. White pines are hardy in USDA zones 3 to 9 and prefer sunny, moist sites.