Belonging to the family Pinaceae and genus Pinus, Pines belong to monotypic sub-family of Pinoideae. Though there are more than hundreds of species found in Pinus, they are divided into two subgenera on the basis of cone, seed and types of leaves. They include:
Subgenus Strobus – these pines are extremely soft, mainly white color with pinions, lacebarks and bristlecones. The cones in these species scale without a sealing band, have an umbo terminal or a dorsal and articulate seedwings. There is one fibrovascular bundle per leaf present in these sub-species.