Burke: Pinus rigida vs. Pinus monticola

	Pinus rigida	Pinus monticola
		western white pine
Habit		Medium-sized tree up to 40 m. tall.
Bark		Bark very thin, at first gray and smooth, becoming checked into squarish, flaking scales, grayish where exposed, cinnamon-brown underneath.
Leaves		Needles in clusters of 5, light bluish-green, slender, 5-10 cm. long, obtuse, on spur branches that are ultimately deciduous with the needles.
Cones		Staminate cones clustered, yellow, under 1 cm. long, crowded at the base of shoots of the current season; ovulate cones at the tips of upper branches, greenish-yellow to purplish when young, short-stalked, pendent, 15-25 cm. long and 6-9 cm. thick, the scales thin, broadened upward and red to brown below the yellowish-brown, obtuse tip.

	Pinus rigida	Pinus monticola
Habitat		Moist valleys and drier slopes, near sea level to mid-elevations in the mountains
Distribution	[WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]	Occurring on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; British Columbia to California, east to Alberta, Montana, and Nevada. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]
Origin		Native
Conservation status		Not of concern
Sibling taxa	P. albicaulis, P. contorta, P. monticola, P. ponderosa	P. albicaulis, P. contorta, P. ponderosa
Web links	Local Web sites: Flora NW, PNW Herbaria WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search	Local floras: BC, CA, OR, WA Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, Flora NW, PNW Herbaria WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search

Pinus rigida

Pinus monticola

western white pine

Habit

Medium-sized tree up to 40 m. tall.

Bark

Bark very thin, at first gray and smooth, becoming checked into squarish, flaking scales, grayish where exposed, cinnamon-brown underneath.

Leaves

Needles in clusters of 5, light bluish-green, slender, 5-10 cm. long, obtuse, on spur branches that are ultimately deciduous with the needles.

Cones

Staminate cones clustered, yellow, under 1 cm. long, crowded at the base of shoots of the current season; ovulate cones at the tips of upper branches, greenish-yellow to purplish when young, short-stalked, pendent, 15-25 cm. long and 6-9 cm. thick, the scales thin, broadened upward and red to brown below the yellowish-brown, obtuse tip.