Family: Pinaceae, Pine view all from this family
Description Widely distributed pine that may grow tall with narrow, dense, conical crown, or remain small with broad, rounded crown; 3 geographic varieties.
Height: 20-80' (6-24 m).
Diameter: 1-3' (0.3-0.9 m).
Needles: evergreen; 2 in bundle; 1 1/4-2 3/4" (3-7 cm) long. Stout, slightly flattened and often twisted; yellow-green to dark green.
Bark: light brown, thin, and scaly; or in Shore Pine (the coastal variety), dark brown, thick, furrowed into scaly plates.
Cones: 3/4-2" (2-5 cm) long; egg-shaped, stalkless, oblique or 1-sided at base, shiny yellow-brown; remaining closed on tree many years, but variable; cone-scales raised, rounded, keeled, with tiny, slender prickle.
Habitat High mountains on mostly well-drained soils, often in pure stands; Shore Pine in peat bogs, muskegs, and dry, sandy sites.
Range SE. Alaska and central Yukon south on Pacific Coast to N. California, south through Sierra Nevada to S. California, and south in Rocky Mountains to S. Colorado; also local in Black Hills of South Dakota and N. Baja California; coastal variety from sea level to 2000' (610 m); inland varieties at 1500-3000' (457-914 m) in north and at 7000-11,500' (2134-3505 m) in south.
Discussion Lodgepole Pine is one of the most widely distributed New World pines and the only conifer native in both Alaska and Mexico. Its name refers to the use by American Indians of the slender trunks as poles for their conical tents or teepees. Shore Pine (var. contorta), the Pacific Coast variety, is a small tree with spreading crown, thick, furrowed bark, short leaves, and oblique cones pointing backward, opening at maturity but remaining attached. Sierra Lodgepole Pine (var. murrayana (Grev. & Balf.) Engelm.), of the Cascade Mountains of southwestern Washington and western Oregon, the Sierra Nevada of central California, and south to northern Baja California, is a tall, narrow tree with thin, scaly bark, relatively broad leaves, and symmetrical, lightweight cones opening at maturity and shedding within a few years. Lodgepole Pine or Rocky Mountain Lodgepole Pine (var. latifolia Engelm.), of the Rocky Mountain region, is a tall, narrow tree with thin, scaly bark, long needles, and cones often oblique and pointing outward. This variety is adapted to forest fires, often with cones that remain tightly closed on the trees many years until a fire destroys the forest. When the heat causes the cones to open, the seeds fall to the bare ground to begin a new forest. This variety is also able to reproduce without fire, and in some areas most of the trees release their seeds without the heat of fire.
