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.