Stone pines have been used and cultivated for their edible pine nuts since prehistoric times. They are widespread in horticultural cultivation as ornamental trees, planted in gardens and parks around the world. In coastal California, for example, where known popularly as the Italian stone pine in tree guidebooks since 1956, this evergreen is widely grown from Hollywood to Palisades Park (Santa Monica), to Sylmar in the northern San Fernando Valley, and in Marina del Rey, after World War II. This plant has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.