The edible seed of more than a dozen species of evergreen cone-bearing trees in the genus Pinus, native to the temperate zone of the Northern Hemisphere. The important nut-producing species are the stone pine (P. pinea) of southern Europe; the Swiss stone pine (P. cembra), native to the Swiss Alps and eastward through Siberia to Mongolia; and the piñon pine (P. cembroides var. edulis) of the arid regions of the southwestern United States. The seeds or nuts, variable in size according to species, are borne in cones which take 3–4 years to develop.