The open plant encyclopedia
Snap a photo or search by any name to see how to care for it, where it comes from, whether it's safe, and a 3D model you can turn.
The plants people record most in your country, and ones that grow there wild.
Filter by what you want to do, shape, origin, country, care and safety.
Pinus monticola
Also called Idaho White Pine, Silver Pine, Mountain White Pine, California Mountain Pine
Western white pine is a large, fast-growing conifer of the mountains of western North America, reaching 30 to 50 metres tall, and is the state tree of Idaho. It is grown as an ornamental tree and is best given full sun, deep moist but well-drained soil, and plenty of room, as it is far too large for most home gardens.
Western white pine (Pinus monticola), also called silver pine and California mountain pine, is a species of pine in the family Pinaceae. It occurs in mountain ranges of northwestern North America and is the state tree of Idaho.
The species occurs in humid areas of the mountains of the Western United States and Western Canada such as the Sierra Nevada, the Cascade Range, the Coast Range, and the northern Rocky Mountains. It can be found in elevations of 600 to 1,800 meters (2,000 to 5,900 ft) above sea level in eastern Washington and Oregon's Blue Mountains and 1,800 to 3,100 metres (5,900 to 10,200 ft) on the western face of the Sierra Nevada as far south as the headwaters of the Kern River. The tree often occurs in forests with fir and hemlock species, especially those which are tolerant of shade. It benefits from disturbances that clear away competing species, including low fires that do not destroy all of its cone-protected seeds. It is also well adapted to poor, rocky soils.
The gum was reportedly chewed by Native Americans to treat coughs. The pitch was used to fasten arrowheads and coat fishing and whaling instruments. European colonists used both Western and Eastern white pine as softwood lumber. Both species are considered excellent for molding and carving. First the Eastern and then the Western species were used in the building of transcontinental railroads in the late 19th century. In the early 20th century, white pine was used to build houses and make matches.
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 Western white pine 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.
