Western White Pines

Western White Pines

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TOPIC: Western white pines
http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees/browse_thread/thread/96dd1a787e9a54be?hl=en
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== 1 of 11 ==
Date: Wed, Jun 18 2008 11:43 am
From: dbhguru@comcast.net

James,

Western whitess look fairly similar to their eastern cousins, but grow to slightly larger sizes in parts of their range and I think the bark may develop deeper furrows. I'm unsure on that point. Like the eastern variety, needles are in bundles of 5. Descriptions suggest western cones are a little shorter than those of the eastern great whites. BVP could far better expound of fine differences between the two species. I imagine Don Bertollette can also. Don? Bob?

The western white pine is the Idaho state tree and Idaho is one of the states where the species can be seen in a little of its original glory - I think. Oregon is another state and maybe Washington. I don't know if there are palpable differences between the western whites growing in the Rockies versus those in the Cascades nad coastal areas.

I'm trusting that if my physical state will allow, I will be able to search for some outstanding western great whites, measure and report on them. As it stands now, the major newspaper in Pocatello plans to do a story on my visit. Pretty neat, huh? East searches out west.

Bob

-------------- Original message --------------
From: James Parton <hawthorn_ent@yahoo.com>

>
> Bob,
>
> Have a great trip. I have never been to Idaho.
>
> Do the Western White Pines look much different then our familiar
> Eastern ones? How tall do they get?
>
> JP

== 2 of 11 ==
Date: Wed, Jun 18 2008 12:03 pm
From: Larry

Bob, East meets West! Have you been to the Priest Area( Roosevelt
Grove) Ancient Cedars? Larry

== 3 of 11 ==
Date: Wed, Jun 18 2008 12:09 pm
From: John Eichholz

Ents:

I was just in Portland, OR, and visited the arboretum, (connected to a
beautiful city park you can hike in for 30 miles or so.) The western
white pines there had a shorter( 3"), denser needle cluster and growing
tips compared to eastern white pine. The needles really came out from
all sides of the twig, more like a spruce would. The bark was similar,
but the western was blockier. I didn't bring my measuring equipment
(too busy on the work aspect to bother) but the trees seemed about as
large as the larger ones here. There is probably a lot more to say
about this beautiful tree.

John Eichholz

== 4 of 11 ==
Date: Wed, Jun 18 2008 12:14 pm
From: ForestRuss@aol.com

Bob:

I spent several years working on the border between Montana and Idaho in the
region known as the "inland empire" where western white pine grows in all of
its glory. The area around Superior and St. Regis Montana and Cedars, Red
Ives, Cour de Lane and Sandpoint, Idaho has some of the best and tallest white
pine I ever encountered.

Pocatello is too far south!

Have an incredible trip.

Russ

== 5 of 11 ==
Date: Wed, Jun 18 2008 2:08 pm
From: DON BERTOLETTE

John-
Western White Pine in northern California wilderness areas have an almost alligator bark when approaching or achieving old-growth. In abundant cone years, we'd take a few and use them as instant fire starters, as they tend to exude pitch, once open. A wonderful tree in the mid- to upper-Sierra Nevadas, I can only imagine they get better the further north they go.
-DonRB

== 6 of 11 ==
Date: Wed, Jun 18 2008 2:18 pm
From: DON BERTOLETTE

Bob/James-
One of my favorite western trees! They can get to be fairly good size trees, although usually outdone in mixed conifer type forests by ponderosa, sugar pine, doug fir, white fir, and cedars. Yes bark can get fairly deeply furrowed, but typically at dbh height or lower...yes, 5 needles per fascicle, and in comparison to western pines, they're shorter...cones resemble a miniature sugar pine, thin and long (hmmm, if memory serves me, I'd say 5-8", with a slight curve)...maybe something about brachts too, off the top of my head...cones are wonderfully pitchy if you're looking for a fire starter! One match fires...
From my Wood Utilization class, I recall that they were valued for their dimensional stability, and used in framing windows...the other item of note was their susceptibility to white pine blister rust whose host was ribes spp. (gooseberries, currants, etc.). Once common in Yosemite NP, white pines were decimated in the 60's, 70's if memory serves me right.
-DonRB

== 7 of 11 ==
Date: Wed, Jun 18 2008 4:27 pm
From: dbhguru@comcast.net

Larry,

No. I haven't had the pleasure. Where exactly is it?

Bob

== 8 of 11 ==
Date: Wed, Jun 18 2008 5:48 pm
From: Larry

Bob, Here's a Link to Roosevelt Grove.
http://www.priestlake.org/attraction/rooseveltgrove.html

Larry

== 9 of 11 ==
Date: Wed, Jun 18 2008 5:51 pm
From: Larry

Bob, Northwestern Idaho. Larry

== 10 of 11 ==
Date: Wed, Jun 18 2008 6:17 pm
From: Gary Smith

The Roosevelt Grove really does look like an interesting place, with
cedars said to be up to 12' dbh. I assume these are Western Red
Cedars, which I know can get really big.

I want to see this place myself.

gs

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