Limber pine

Leaves

Form

• Needles evergreen
• Remaining on tree for 5–6 years

Twigs

Form

• Hairy, becoming smooth

Colour

• Greenish-brown becoming grey

Seed cones (mature)

Form

• Cylindrical to narrowly ovoid when closed
• Very short-stalked
• More or less at right angles to the stem

Length

• 8–20 cm

Structure

• 40–70 scales
• Slightly thickened at the tips, spoon-shaped
• Without a prickle, often with reflexed tips

Timing

• Open on the tree at maturity to release the seeds
• Cones shed during the winter

Seedlings

Form

• 6–10 cotyledons, toothless

Length

• 25–35 mm

Bark

Form

• Smooth when young
• With age becoming thick, rough, with wide scaly plates

Colour

• Pale grey when young, with age becoming dark brown

Wood

Texture

• Moderately soft, light

Colour

• Heartwood yellow
• Sapwood nearly white

Size

Height

• To 12 m

Diameter

• To 60 cm

Maximum age

• Can live for several hundred years

Tree form

Forest-grown

Trunk

• On mature trees, short, thick
• Markedly tapered
• Usually crooked

Crown

• Irregular, extending over most of the tree’s length
• Young branches very tough, flexible, hence the name “limber” pine
• Old branches tend to droop, tips upturned
• Very old trees sometimes with lower branches longer than the height of the tree

Habitat

Site

• Above 1000 m to the tree line
• Occurs mainly as single trees or in small open groves on dry rocky exposed sites
• Grows on a variety of soils
• In southern Alberta, forms forest outliers on rocky outcrops along the edge of the prairie

Light tolerance

• Full sun

Range

Southern British Columbia and Alberta