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Pinus contorta
Also called Shore Pine, Tamarack Pine, Scrub Pine, Bolander Beach Pine, Bolander's Beach Pine, Contorta Pine, Twisted Pine
A conifer native to western North America, growing as a tall tree in mountain forests or as a low, wind-shaped shrub on exposed coasts and high ground. It tolerates poor, thin soils and cold, and is mainly a forest or landscape tree rather than a common houseplant.
Pinus contorta, the lodgepole pine, shore pine, twisted pine, or contorta pine, is a species of conifer in the family Pinaceae. It is a common pine in western North America, found near the ocean shore and in dry montane forests to the subalpine, but is rare in lowland rain forests.
Pinus contorta occurs from upper, dry montane forests to the subalpine region of western North America. It can be found on the western side of the Cascades, in inland British Columbia, and on the Rocky Mountains in Alberta, except where it is too high and dry. Lodgepole pine can tolerate relatively hostile environments such as high-elevation volcanic rock in Central Oregon (e.g. Crater Lake) and thin soils on the eastern slope of the Cascades. Further south, the species can be found in higher elevations up to 3,350 m (10,990 ft) above sea level, particularly in southern Colorado. It is rare in lowland rain forests. Shore pine can be found in very infertile soils in coastal regions from Southeast Alaska to Northern California.
Rocky Mountains Bristlecone Pine · Arizona Pine · Chinese White Pine · Mexican White Pine · Jack pine · Turkish Pine · Lacebark Pine · Canary Islands Pine · Caribbean pine · Swiss Pine · Mexican Pinyon · Sand Pine
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Pinus contorta by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
