Hot dang, what a beaut of a tree! When you’re out for a rip in the mountains of Coastal Cascadia, there are two types of pine trees that you’re gonna stumble across - Western White Pines, and Whitebark Pines.
Western White Pines have longer blueish green needles, really massive, long cones and dark bark that cracks into plates, whereas Whitebark Pines tend to have shorter yellowish-green needles, much smaller, more compact cones and smooth to rough whiteish grey bark. Both have needles sprouting from fascicles in bundles of 5, and while their populations do overlap, Whitebark Pines like this one here tend to be the only ones growing at the tip tops of the mountains.
Often in these alpine environments they both can take on similar ‘krummholtz’ appearances as they twist and adapt to the harsh elements on these mountain peaks, often stunting or twisting their needles…so sometimes it can be kind of difficult to tell the two apart. A quick little ID hack is that Whitebark Pine needles are very smooth, meaning that you can rub your finger back and forth both ways pretty easily. Western White Pines, on the other hand, have very lightly serrated edges on their needles so it will feel smooth running your finger from the branch to the tip of the needle, but rough going back the other way.
Unmentioned here are Lodgepole pines, which can be found all throughout the more interior mountains of Cascadia and into the Rockies, often growing right alongside Whitebark Pines at mid to high elevations. They too have compact little cones and can have lighter coloured bark when younger, yet Lodgepole Pines are very easy to identify from others because their yellow-ish green needles sprout in pairs instead of bundles of 5.
Very stoked to parter with @patagoniavancouver on this fun little ski tree guide series to help you ID trees when you’re out for a rip, and we’ve got some cool things in store for you shortly so stay tuned! 🤙
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Produced & Directed by Ross Reid
~ I'd like to acknowledge that this video was filmed on the traditional, ancestral and unceded territory of the Coast Salish peoples-Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, Stó:lō and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm Nations. ~
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25 июн 2022
