Pinus Contorta – Lodgepole Pine

General Information Common Name  Lodgepole Pine Scientific Name  Pinus Contorta Sun Tolerance  Full Sun Height  40-50  m (130-160 ft) Spread  15 - 30 m (50 - 100 ft) Growth Rate  Fast Bloom Time  Spring Color  Green, Flower Color  Gold Type  Tree Native  USA, Asia, Europe.

Classification Kingdom  Plantae – Plants Subkingdom  Tracheobionta – Vascular plants Superdivision Spermatophyta – Seed plants Division  Coniferophyta – Conifers Class  Pinopsida Subclass  Order  Pinales Family  Pinaceae – Pine family Genus  Pinus –  Pine Species  P. contorata

Pinus Contorta commonly known as Lodgepole Pine is native to North America. It’s a two-needled conifer. The name ‘Lodgepole’ is derived from its use by Indians as poles to support their wigwams or lodges.

Pinus Contorta – Lodgepole Pine

The twigs are orange-brown to black wrinkled when young. The long buds are cylindrical, resinous and blunt. The young shoots stand upright in May and June like emerald candles. The needles are stiff and in pairs, bound together at their base by a sheath consisting of membranous scales.

They are of similar length about 2-5 cm to those of Scots Pine but are stouter slightly twisted and yellowish-green or mid-green. The foliage tends to be dense with much overlapping of needles in trees of American costal provenances.

The flowers of both sexes are found on the same tree and they are produced from the second year of life. The males are rather dense clusters of yellow to orange globules and the females (terminal on new shoots) are small and crimson, soon becoming reddish-purple, plum-colored and spiky cone-lets. The cones on inland and northern provenances of Lodgepole Pine are often at a node two-third of the way up the year’s shoot; but the coastal provenances are rarely bi-nodal in growth. The cone points down the shoot, is somewhat egg-shaped, about 4 cm in length and the raised portion of each scale (the umbo) bears a small sharp prickle.

The bark is rather odd, being a dull brownish-black and broken into small squarish plates divided by shallow furrows, or closely scaly. The heartwood is a pale straw color and there is very little contrast between heartwood and sapwood. The timber has proved a satisfactory alternative to Scots Pine for roofing, flooring, interior framing, and other joinery. Thinnings are used for paper pulp, chipboard, poles and pit-props.

In the last twenty years Lodgepole Pine has been planted on an ever-increasing scale in Scotland and North Wales because of its remarkable tolerance of poor soils, including the peaty moorlands of the wetter and cloudier western districts. Under comparable conditions it grows significantly faster than does Scots Pine and leading shoots of 5 feet may be seen.

Pinus Contorta – Lodgepole Pine

Leaves of Lodgepole Pine

Lodgepole Pine Leaves

Male cone of Lodgepole Pine

 Lodgepole Pine Male Cone

Female cone of Lodgepole Pine

Lodgepole Pine Female Cone

Pinus Contorta – Lodgepole Pine Cones

Bark of Lodgepole Pine

Pinus Contorta – Lodgepole Pine Young Plant

Lodgepole Pine Young Plant

Lodgepole Pine Forest

Pinus Contorta – Lodgepole Pine

Pinus Contorta – Lodgepole Pine

Pinus Contorta – Lodgepole Pine

Pinus Contorta – Lodgepole Pine

Pinus Contorta – Lodgepole Pine

Pinus Contorta – Lodgepole Pine

Pinus Contorta – Lodgepole Pine

Picea sitchensis – Sitka Spruce

General Information Common Name  Sitka Spruce Scientific Name  Picea sitchensis Sun Tolerance  Full Sun Height  upto 100  m (upto 330 ft) Spread  15 - 30 m (50 - 100 ft) Growth Rate  Fast Bloom Time  Spring Color  Green, Flower Color  Yellow Type  Tree Native  USA, Asia, Europe.

Classification Kingdom  Plantae – Plants Subkingdom  Tracheobionta – Vascular plants Superdivision Spermatophyta – Seed plants Division  Coniferophyta – Conifers Class  Pinopsida Subclass  Order  Pinales Family  Pinaceae – Pine family Genus  Picea –  Spruce Species  P. sitchensis

Picea sitchensis – Sitka Spruce

Picea sitchensis commonly known as Sitka spruce. Its introduced by David Douglas in 1831 is nowadays the most extensively planted tree in British forestry. It takes its name from the small seaport of Sitka in Alaska, but is found as a native southwards from that state to north California. It is a large growing tree, grow up to 100 m (330 ft), with huge trunk up to 5m (16 ft) in diameter.

The young shoots are light brown to pure white. The buds are ovoid and yellowish-brown and free of resin. The needles stand out stiffly around the shoot, and are bluish-green on the upper surface, with a prominent rib; the lower surface bears two bands of white stomata giving a blue or silvery appearance. The needles are flattened up to 2 cm long and have sharp horny points. Each needle stands on a little peg projecting from the twig; when pulled away, the peg goes with the needle, accompanied by a short strip of bark. In mass the needles give the tree a faintly blue sheen.

The flowers of both sexes are found on the same tree. The stalked male catkins are about 2.5 cm long, oval, pendulous or spreading, red at first but becoming yellow. The female flowers, usually higher up the tree, are small oval, erect structures, stalk less and crimson-colored; they have prominent bract which are eventually covered by the developing scales. The cone, 5-8 cm long and blunt-ended, has papery-textured scales with crinkled edges, and is light brown becoming whitish or pale yellow. It ripens in the first year, releasing the seeds early in autumn and then persisting on the tree for indefinite periods.

The bark is at first greyish-brown and looks smooth (though rough to the touch), later breaking into greyish-brown round scales, with somewhat raised edges (in appearance like small shallow saucers), which gradually flake away. The tree is at first conical in shape, later developing long lightly drooping branches and a rather thin crown. The base usually broadens out and is often buttressed. The wood is tough but has no natural durability out of doors; it is white to pale yellow in color – much used for box-making, interior joinery and carpentry, shed-building, paper pulp, chipboard, pit-props, and general purposes.

Foresters appreciate Sitka Spruce as a fine forest tree for the peaty hills and moors where the rainfall is heavy. It is more resistant to exposure and possibly more wind-firm than Norway Spruce and in general faster growing and produces a larger volume of timber. It can exceed 100 feet in thirty years and several trees are known over 150 feet and some exceed 20 feet in girth. Sitka particularly in drier areas is partially defoliated annually by the attacks of an aphis Elatobium abietina, making the tree appear much thinner foliaged than Norway Spruce. High moisture requirements make it unsuitable for the drier climates and soils of the south and east of Britain. 

This is also use as Christmas Trees. 

Picea sitchensis – Sitka Spruce

Picea sitchensis – Sitka Spruce Leaves

Leaves of Picea sitchensis – Sitka Spruce

Leaves of Picea sitchensis 

Leaves of Sitka Spruce

Picea sitchensis – Sitka Spruce Flowers

Picea sitchensis – Sitka Spruce Cone

Sitka Spruce Cone

Bark of Sitka Spruce

Log of Sitka Spruce

Picea sitchensis Logs

 Sitka Spruce Young Plant

Young Plants of Sitka Spruce

Picea sitchensis – Sitka Spruce

Picea sitchensis – Sitka Spruce

Picea sitchensis – Sitka Spruce

Picea sitchensis – Sitka Spruce

Picea sitchensis – Sitka Spruce as ornamental plant

Sitka Spruce Videos: