Pinus flexilis |
Pinus contorta |
|
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limber pine |
lodgepole pine, shore pine |
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Habit | Trees to 20 m tall; mature crown conic to rounded. | Trees to 45 m tall; mature crown variable. |
Buds | ovoid; reddish brown, resinous. |
ovoid; reddish brown, resinous. |
Leaves | in clusters of 5, upcurved, 3–6 cm × 1–1.5 mm, dark green; margins entire to finely serrulate; abaxial surfaces with faint stomatal bands; adaxial surfaces with obvious stomatal bands; apex acute; sheaths deciduous. |
in clusters of 2; straight to slightly curved, twisted, 2–8 cm × 0.7–2.5 mm, dark green to yellow-green; margins finely serrulate; all surfaces with fine stomatal bands; apex usually acute; sheaths persistent. |
Pollen cones | ellipsoid-cylindrical, 1.2–1.6 cm long, red or yellow. |
ellipsoid to cylindrical, 0.5–1.5 cm long, orange-red. |
Seeds | oval, compressed, 6–12 mm long, brown to reddish brown, sometimes with spots; wingless or nearly so. |
obovoid, oblique and tapering at apex and base, 2–6 mm long, brown or reddish brown with black spots; wings at least twice as long as body. |
Trunks | to 2 m in diameter; straight, sometimes contorted; bark gray; smooth, becoming ridged with rectangular scaly plates with age; branches horizontal to ascending, usually persistent to base; twigs reddish brown and pubescent when young, becoming gray with age; smooth or nearly so with some bud scars. |
to 0.8 m in diameter; straight to contorted; bark orange-brown to reddish brown, fissured to plated; branches descending to ascending; twigs yellowish orange when young; dark reddish brown with age, roughened by bud scales. |
Seed cones | ovoid to ovoid-cylindrical, symmetric, 7–15 cm long, light brown; horizontal to pendent, sessile to less than 2 cm long, maturing in 2 years, opening at maturity; umbos terminal; less than 2 mm; prickles absent. |
ovoid to sub-globose, asymmetric, 2–5 cm long, light brown to reddish brown, pendent; stalks less than 1 cm long, maturing in 2 years, opening at maturity; umbos central, triangular; less than 5 mm; prickles less than 5 mm long. |
2n | =24. |
=24. |
Pinus flexilis |
Pinus contorta |
|
Distribution | ||
Discussion | High altitude montane forests. 1500–2500 m. BW. CA, ID, NV, WA; north to Alberta, east to NE, southeast to NM. Native. In Oregon, Pinus flexilis is found only in the Wallowa Mountains. Morphologically, it is similar to P. albicaulis but is distinguished from the latter by its larger cones that open at maturity. |
Western North America. 3 varieties; 2 varieties treated in Flora. With the exception of Pinus sylvestris, which one is unlikely to encounter in the wild, P. contorta is the only two-needled pine species found in Oregon. |
Source | Flora of Oregon, volume 1, page 121 Stephen Meyers |
Flora of Oregon, volume 1, page 121 Stephen Meyers |
Sibling taxa | ||
Subordinate taxa | ||
Web links |
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