Whitebark Pine Ecosystem Foundation (WPEF)

We are a science-based non-profit dedicated to counteracting the decline of whitebark pine and enhancing knowledge about the value of its ecosystems.

Contact

406-925-9545
[email protected]

Whitebark Pine Ecosystem Foundation
PO Box 17943
Missoula, Montana 59808

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Limber pine

Pinus flexilis

Tree: to 80′ (shorter with increased elevation) and 7′ DBH; multi-stemmed with upswept branches in crown (similar to western white pine in California); in Rockies, main stem sweeps out in various directions

Bark: grayish-white when young, becoming brownish-white with thin, interlacing blocking patterns in older trees

Needles: 1.5”- 3”, dark-green, straight, flexible, in bundles of 5

Seed Cones: 3”- 6”, ripening to pale yellow, egg-shaped to spherical

Habitat: 4,000′- 11,500′, lower in eastern and northern parts of range and higher in southwest; preferring xeric, montane forest upward through subalpine

Observations: rare along Pacific Slope; in California on Mt. Pinos, Mt. Baldy, Mt. San Gorgonio, Mt. San Jacinto, select canyons in eastern Sierra Nevada, Sirreta Peak, and White Mountains; in Oregon only in eastern portions of the Eagle Cap Wilderness

Remarks: susceptible to white pine blister rust; can live to 2,000 years

Information from Conifers of the Pacific Slope by Michael Kauffmann.