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Pinus monticola Like all pines, Western white pine bears its needles in bundles, in this case in bundles of 5. The needles are long (5-10 cm), slender, flexible, and bluish-green. The tree generally grows to about 40 m with smooth grey bark when young becoming scaly and dark with age. The female cones are long (10-25 cm), cylindrical, reddish-brown and woody when mature, the scales without prickles. Western white pine grows in moist to fairly dry, mostly open slopes from low to high elevations. Western white pine would likely be more abundant if it were not for white pine blister rust, a fungus that alternates hosts between white pines and currents or gooseberries (species of Ribes), which are abundant in the understory of most of our montane forests. The fungus kills many young trees, but some seem to have a natural resistance that is being investigated for white pine breeding programs. |
