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Limber pine (Pinus flexilis), Cone of the Month for Jun, 2024
Illustrated by Kathleen Murray
If you hike to the top of a high mountain from Calgary, Canada south to Mexico, from Colorado to western Nevada, or the Wallowas of northeastern Oregon, you’ll find this tree. One of the most widely spread yet uncommon pine species of western North America, limber pine grows only near the tree line in wide open stands with other high altitude species. Never forming closed-canopy forests, it grows in small groves or as isolated individuals battered by wind and snow, often as contorted krummholz.
Fun Fact: It’s closely related to the bristlecone pines and grows in similar forms and habitats, both of whom grow as krummholz (knee-wood).
Limber pine (Pinus flexilis), Cone of the Month for Jun, 2024
Illustrated by Kathleen Murray
If you hike to the top of a high mountain from Calgary, Canada south to Mexico, from Colorado to western Nevada, or the Wallowas of northeastern Oregon, you’ll find this tree. One of the most widely spread yet uncommon pine species of western North America, limber pine grows only near the tree line in wide open stands with other high altitude species. Never forming closed-canopy forests, it grows in small groves or as isolated individuals battered by wind and snow, often as contorted krummholz.
Fun Fact: It’s closely related to the bristlecone pines and grows in similar forms and habitats, both of whom grow as krummholz (knee-wood).