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Pinus flexilis
Also called Rocky Mountain White Pine, Squirrel Pine
Pinus flexilis, the limber pine, is a species of pine tree in the family Pinaceae that occurs in the mountains of the Western United States, Mexico, and Canada. It is also called Rocky Mountain white pine.
A limber pine in Eagle Cap Wilderness, Oregon, has been documented as over 2,000 years old, and another one was confirmed at 1,140 years old. Another candidate for the oldest limber pine was identified in 2006 near the Alta Ski Area in Utah; called "Twister", the tree was confirmed to be at least 1,700 years old and thought to be even older.
The popular cultivar P. flexilis 'Vanderwolf's Pyramid' is widely available as an ornamental tree for gardens. 'Vanderwolf's Pyramid' derives from P. reflexa, though it is usually listed in nursery catalogs under P. flexilis.
The Southwestern white pine is popular as a windbreak tree or an ornamental tree due to its drought tolerance. It is also grown as a Christmas tree, liked for the soft needles but with stiffer branches than an Eastern white pine.
The largest part of the limber pine's range is in the Rocky Mountains, from southwest Alberta and southeastern British Columbia south through Colorado and New Mexico into the northern states of Mexico. It is also found through the Great Basin states of Nevada and Utah, in the eastern Sierra Nevada and White Mountains of Northern California, and in the San Bernardino and San Gabriel Mountains of the Transverse Ranges in Southern California. Continuing south the species is found in the San Jacinto Mountains, Santa Rosa Mountains, and Hot Springs Mountain of the Peninsular Ranges. There are small disjunct populations in eastern Oregon, in western North Dakota and Nebraska, and in the Black Hills of South Dakota. It is found at a wide range of altitudes depending on the latitude, from 850 to 3,810 m (2,790 to 12,500 ft).
The large seeds are edible, and were reportedly consumed by Native Americans in Montana.
Whitebark Pine · Amami Pine · Rocky Mountains Bristlecone Pine · Arizona Pine · Pinus armandii var. mastersiana · Chinese White Pine · Pinus arunachalensis · Knobcone pine · Mexican White Pine · Foxtail Pine · Jack pine · Bhutan Pine
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Pinus flexilis by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts are shared under the same licence.
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.
