Pinus contorta (lodgepole pine) description

Conservation Status

Pinus contorta

Douglas ex Loudon (1838)

Common names

Lodgepole pine.

Taxonomic notes

Three subspecies and two varieties:

Pinus contorta subsp. contorta. Further information on the subsp. contorta page.
Pinus contorta subsp. contorta var. bolanderi (Parl.) Vasey. Further information on the subsp. contorta page.
Pinus contorta subsp. latifolia (Engelm.) Critchf. Further information on the subsp. latifolia page.
Pinus contorta subsp. murrayana (Balf.) Engelm. Further information on the subsp. murrayana page.
Pinus contorta var. yukonensis W.L.Strong (2010). Type: 60.6581°N, 135.225°W, ~10 km southwest of downtown Whitehorese, Yukon, Canada, west slope of Mount McIntyre, elevation 1280 m, 2009.10.14, Wayne L. Strong s.n. (isotype CAN 588198). No synonyms.

These taxa are sometimes all treated at the rank of variety (e.g., Kral 1993), but researchers actively involved with study of the species normally recognise them at subspecific rank, observing the substantial genetic and adaptational differences between them (Critchfield 1957; Wheeler and Guries 1982a, 1982b; Wheeler and Critchfield 1985; von Rudloff and Lapp 1987; Aitken and Libby 1994). It appears that molecular studies will be needed to ascertain the relationships of var. yukonensis, but Strong (2010) sees it as closer to subsp. contorta than to subsp. latifolia. The validity of var. bolanderi is debatable; its only consistent morphological difference from subsp. contorta is in the number of resin canals. However, it is a distinctive ecotype and researchers studying it typically assign it a taxonomic rank.

P. contorta is the type species of Pinus subsection Contortae, a clearly-defined group of hard pines endemic to North America and including 4 species of short-needled, small-coned, highly fecund pines that are effective competitors on very poor soils and that generally are well adapted to rapid regeneration after stand-destroying fire. Chloroplast sequence data indicate the species of subsect. Contortae are sister to all other North American hard pines, supporting classification of these species as a distinct subsection (Gernandt et al. 2005).

Description

Shrubs or trees to 50 m tall and 90 cm dbh, straight to contorted, with crown varying according to genetic race; lower branches often descending, the upper spreading or ascending. Bark brown to gray- or red-brown, platy to furrowed, variable in thickness both between and within populations. Twigs slender, multinodal, rough, orange to red-brown, aging darker brown. Leaves yellow-green to dark green, 2 (rarely 3) per fascicle, spreading or ascending, persisting 3-8 years, 2-8 cm × 0.7-2(-3) mm, twisted, all surfaces with fine stomatal lines, margins finely serrulate, apex blunt to acute or narrowly acuminate; sheath 3-6(-10) mm, persistent. Buds narrowly to broadly ovoid, dark red-brown, to 12 mm, slightly resinous. Pollen cones densely whorled at base of current-year shoot, ellipsoid to cylindric, 5-15 mm long, orange-red, yellow when fertile. Seed cones variably asymmetric, lanceoloid to ovoid before opening, broadly ovoid to globose when open, (2-)3-6(-7.5) cm long, tan to pale red-brown, lustrous, nearly sessile or on a peduncle to 2-3 mm long, maturing in 16-20 months, variably serotinous, variably persistent. Cone scales with nearly rhombic apophyses, variously elongate, cross-keeled, often mammillate toward outer cone base and on inside above middle; umbo central, depressed-triangular, prickle barely elongate to stubby or slender and to 6 mm. Seeds compressed, obovoid; body ca. 5 mm, black (infertile seeds often mottled pale to red-brown), wing 10-14 mm. 2n=24 (Critchfield 1957, Kral 1993). See García Esteban et al. (2004) for a detailed characterization of the wood anatomy.

The subspecies and varieties of Pinus contorta can identified according to the key shown below (from Kral 1993), except that a description of var. yukonensis is not available. POWO (2025) reports that its growth habit is always a shrub, and it has a very limited distribution. Trees near the boundaries between subspecies will often show intermediate traits.

1.	Leaves 2-7 cm × 0.7-0.9(-1.1) mm, dark green; mature trunk with bark evidently furrowed; seed cones strongly asymmetric, strongly recurved, persistent or variously serotinous.	subsp. contorta
+	Leaves (4-)5-8 cm × (0.7-)1-2(-3) mm, yellow-green; mature trunk with bark not evidently furrowed; seed cones asymmetric to nearly symmetric, recurved to spreading, variously serotinous or soon shed.	2
2.	Seed cones asymmetric, recurved, variously serotinous, long-persistent; mid and lower apophyses mostly much domed; main branches mostly horizontally spreading, not ascending at tip.	subsp. latifolia
+	Seed cones nearly symmetric, mostly spreading, not serotinous, not persistent; mid and lower apophyses mostly shallowly domed; main branches ascending at tips.	var. murrayana

Kral (1993) states that Pinus contorta can be distinguished from its near relative P. banksiana by its seed cones, which are curved forward on branches, unarmed or with small reflexed apiculi. In P. banksiana the seed cones are spreading to recurved on branches, mostly armed with prickles. Farjon (2010) distinguishes the two species by pollen cone color (orange-red before anthesis is P. contorta vs. yellow in P. banksiana) and by details of the mature seed cone. In P. contorta it is ovoid, asymmetrical at base when closed, and the umbos bear a variable but persistent prickle. In P. banksiana the seed cones are asymmetrical, curved when closed, serotinous, with unarmed umbos. Note that cones of subsp. latifolia are also predominately serotinous; also, in my experience, the closed cones of P. banksiana have a greater length/width ratio than those of P. contorta.

Distribution and Ecology

W USA, W Canada, Mexico: Baja California Norte, at 0-3500(-4378) m (Critchfield 1957, Wheeler and Guries 1982b, GBIF 2026); this gives it perhaps the widest elevation range of any conifer, except that Juniperus communis is comparable. Only one pine, P. hartwegii, grows at a higher elevation, and it is only 11 m higher at 4389 m. Hardy to Zone 7 (cold hardiness limit between -17.7°C and -12.2°C) (Bannister and Neuner 2001) (I suspect this refers to subsp. contorta). See also Thompson et al. (1999). See the various subspecies descriptions for particulars.

Var. yukonensis is only reported from a small area in Yukon, Canada, bounded by latitude 59.8-60.9°N and longitude 133.1-136.3°W (GBIF 2025). Based on published photos, its habitat appears to be tundra.

Distribution of P. banksiana (blue) and P. contorta (color coded by subspecies and variety), based on data downloaded from GBIF: 2021.02.27, DOI: https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.yszq86 (banksiana) and 2021.02.27, DOI: https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.au4a94 (contorta) and 2025.02.07, DOI: https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.3yqdgt (var. yukonensis). The boundaries are gradational; for instance, subsp. latifolia is found on fire-prone sites within the mapped distribution of subsp. contorta, e.g. at Deer Park in the northeastern Olympic Mountains; subsp. contorta occurs at some fire-resistant sites (such as bogs) east of the Cascade crest; and the boundary between these and subsp. murrayana is gradational.

Most aspects of the species' ecology are variable between the different subspecies and are discussed on the pages for each subspecies. In general, though, we can say that the P. banksiana-P. contorta complex is the most widely distributed and successful pine in North America thanks to two primary modes of adaptation. The first is to tolerate extreme abiotic stress, to the point of successfully growing (slowly) and reproducing (slowly) on sites that would kill other conifers. In the second, it has life history traits that foster widespread and catastrophic disturbance, after which it spreads enormous seed crops and readily dominates the post-disturbance cohort. In some cases, that role is early successional and lodgepole eventually surrenders dominance to other species, but it can usually survive long enough to witness another catastrophic disturbance, restoring it to dominance.

Autecology: In the first instance, tolerance of extreme abiotic stress, the primary stressors are cold, drought, heat, saturated soils, and low nutrient availability. Cold usually operates at high elevations or high latitudes, or in areas of extreme climate continentality. Consequently lodgepole can be an effective competitor at the arctic and alpine treelines. Lodgepole is not superbly drought-tolerant but it does maintain dominance on some sites with as little as 250 mm annual precipitation, provided that temperatures are moderate (due to high elevation). There are some isolated mountain ranges where it is the only tree species, due to this drought tolerance, abetted by ready wind transport of its extremely small, light seeds. Heat adaptation is unusual but it is capable of surviving on geyserite "soils" in Yellowstone National Park, where high geothermal heat generation coupled with low nutrient availability exclude most plants. Saturated soils are mainly a problem by contributing to anoxic conditions in the rooting zone, which lodgepole tolerates better than most other conifers. It grows on seasonally saturated soils, often caused by a hardpan at depth, at locations throughout its distribution. Finally, and most typically, it grows in soils with extremely low nutrient availability. This is often because the "soils" consist mostly of rocks, but in some cases the nutrient shortage is exacerbated by chemical conditions, such as extreme acidity in bogs (Aitken and Libby 1994, Hadley and Smith 1989, Lotan and Critchfield 1990, Lotan and Perry 1983, Vacek et al. 2022).

Disturbance ecology: In the second instance, rapid recovery after catastrophic disturbance, there are five primary disturbance causes: fire, insects, drought, logging, and anthropogenic climate change. These causes are non-exclusive; two or more may occur at about the same time. Lodgepole pine has evolved adaptations to fire, insects and drought, but logging and anthropogenic climate change represent novel stressors. The primary adaptations to fire, mainly in subsp. latifolia but seen with variations in the other subspecies, involve reproduction and stand structure. Populations in areas with a long history of fire have a large proportion of serotinous cones. Such cones can be retained on the tree for some years but are then opened by the heat of a fire. They release abundant seeds that quickly germinate, ensuring lodgepole dominance in the postfire cohort. The regeneration form a dense stand of evenly-sized trees that soon begin to self-thin, producing large numbers of standing dead trees within the living forest. Given suitable weather and an ignition source, such a forest burns readily. In large portions of the species' range such fires naturally recur at intervals of 30 years or less, establishing a long-term cycle of fire and regrowth. Disturbance by insects is a similar process; again, the following scenario is common in subsp. latifolia but occurs with variations in the other subspecies. In the simplest case, the primary insect of concern is the mountain pine beetle Dendroctonus ponderosae. Irruptions occur the trees represent a suitable resource. Usually this means the trees have a thick enough cambium layer to nourish large numbers of beetle larvae. Typically this occurs when the trees are a certain size (very roughly 25 cm dbh). They also have limited capacity to resist those larvae, usually because they have been weakened by drought. Since the trees are all about the same size, this suddenly opens a very large food supply to the beetle, and vast areas of trees may be killed in a few years. The stressed trees will produce exceptionally large crops of non-serotinous cones, again spreading vast numbers of seeds and dominating the post-disturbance cohort. In some cases the large number of standing dead trees contributes to a fire, and then the stand regenerates according to the cyclical fire model. Drought, as noted, will often kill indirectly by triggering a bark beetle epidemic or contributing to the risk of a fire, but sometimes it will kill directly. This is a relatively unusual stress and mortality due to drought in the absence of fire or bark beetles has not been widely reported. Nonetheless, it may become more common as anthropogenic climate change progressively increases drought stress on sites where it has long been an occasional factor. Logging at really large spatial scales, comparable to large fires or beetle epidemics, is a relatively new stressor (20th century). Logging removes trees suddenly, so they have no opportunity to produce a cone crop. Hypothetically this could deforest large areas. Replanting with nursery stock is a common response, but this introduces genetically distinct trees that may not be well adapted to the site. Alternatively seed trees may be left in the harvested stand, allowing natural regeneration (Alexander et al. 1983, Lotan and Critchfield 1990, Anderson 2003, Shore et al. 2006, Axelson et al. 2009, Jenkins 2011). Projected effects of anthropogenic climate change vary from one area to another and are addressed on the pages for each lodgepole subspecies.

Pests and Pathogens: Along with the mountain pine beetle discussed above, many pests and pathogens afflict Pinus contorta. As with conifer diseases in general, these tend to be a greater concern in populations managed for commodity production, where large numbers of same-sized individuals grow together and where growth reductions carry economic costs. In roughly descending order of importance, these include:

The mountain pine beetle, Dendroctonus ponderosae, is certainly the most destructive and impactful pest of lodgepole pine, affecting all subspecies in outbreaks that sometimes last as long as 10 years and kill millions of trees. Subsp. latifolia and, to a lesser extent, murrayana depend on mountain pine beetle outbreaks and subsequent wildfire for forest renewal. Alternatively, the beetle can accelerate succession by removing lodgepole and allowing faster maturation of late-seral species like Abies lasiocarpa and Picea engelmannii. The beetle occurs throughout nearly all of the range of Pinus in the western U.S. and Canada. Trees are killed when masses of pine beetle larvae eat the phloem and girdle the tree; in a fully-developed outbreak this typically happens in a single growing season, though it may take several years to kill the tree during the development phase of an outbreak. Many factors determine the origin, duration, severity and extent of an outbreak, but the most critical factors are usually predisposing stressors such as drought, other diseases, or climate change that allows beetle invasion of habitats where low winter temperatures formerly killed them (Gibson et al. 2009; Bentz et al 2022; see also Bentz 2008).
Two dwarf mistletoes, Arceuthobium americanum and A. tsugense ssp. contortae, attack lodgepole pine. A. americanum mainly afflicts subsp. latifolia and murrayana, while A. tsugense mainly afflicts subsp. contorta; they occur in almost the entire range of P. contorta. Both mistletoes are parasitic plants that live mainly within the stem tissues of the tree and cause severe growth reductions (85-90% less than in uninfected stands), often leading eventually to mortality. Both species also infect many other conifers in the Pinaceae. Infection spreads most readily if there are multiple size classes of host trees, so it often occurs in mixed-species and later-seral stands (Hawksworth and Dooling 1984, Hennon et al. 2001).
Two species of sawflies, Neodiprion burkei and N. nanulus, defoliate lodgepole pine. During outbreaks, co-occurring conifers in the Pinaceae may also be affected. Outbreaks usually occur on low-quality sites (dry, nutrient-poor soils), last 2-4 years, reduce growth, and cause some mortality. Affected trees are weakened and vulnerable to bark beetles (Ciesla and Smith 2011).
Monterey pine engraver, Pseudips radiatae, is a bark beetle that also infests a variety of pines, including all subspecies of lodgepole pine; often it co-occurs with infestations by other bark beetles. Its range includes parts of BC, AB, WA, ID, MT, WY, OR and CA. It is a secondary pest that occasionally causes mortality of affected pines, but is not influential at the stand or population scale (Struble 1970, Cognato 2025).
The pine engraver, Ips pini, is one of the most common bark beetles in North America. It mostly attacks trees that have recently been killed or damaged by another disturbance, such as windthrow. Outbreaks may kill healthy trees, particularly in sapling and pole sizes, but normally afflict tens to hundreds of trees, and last only one year (Kegley et al. 1997).
Black pineleaf scale, Dynaspidiotus californicus, is a defoliator found throughout the coterminous US and southern Canadian range of lodgepole pine. Outbreaks are usually small but occasionally affect thousands of hectares; this reduces growth and leaves the trees vulnerable to bark beetle attack (Ferrell 1986)
Pandora moth, Coloradia pandora, is a defoliator that occasionally causes extensive mortality; outbreaks are uncommon and last a few years, and have affected lodgepole pines in states from California to Colorado. Defoliation may be complete but the moth has a 2-year life cycle, so defoliation occurs in alternate years; tree growth is reduced but mortality is low. Several natural enemies usually serve to reduce the chances of an outbreak; for instance, the golden mantled ground squirrel Callospermophilul lateralis feeds heavily upon moth pupae, which overwinter in the soil beneath infected trees (Ciesla et al. 2010).
The pine needle-sheath miner, Zelleria haimbachi, is a defoliator found across much of eastern Canada, the Rocky Mountain and Pacific States, and down the Sierra Madre Occidental; it afflicts a variety of hard pines. Large outbreaks are not recorded and mortality is rare; affected trees are mostly in sapling and pole sizes. The miner's larvae are themselves subject to a number of parasites and this seems to be the primary factor keeping the populations relatively small (Stevens 1971).
Sweetfern rust, Cronartium comptoniae, is a very widespread rust that affects many hard pines; it causes cankers on the lower trunk and is often fatal. The alternate hosts for this fungus are Comptonia peregrina and Myrica gale, so it is confined to areas where these plants occur. Growth rates decline and the cankers provide entrance courts for other pests and pathogens. In severe cases 25% of the trees in a stand may be affected (Anderson 1970).
Atropellis cankers are another fungal disease, of which A. piniphila is the most common on lodgepole pine; multiple long cankers form on the trunks of infected trees. Mortality is greatest in small trees within dense, single-species stands; however usually only a minority of trees are affected (Lightle and Thompson 1973).
Dothistroma needle blight, Dothistroma pini, is a fungal disease that attacks and kills needles of many pines, including lodgepole. It is primarily a problem in plantations, occurring only sporadically in natural stands, but it can occur throughout most of the range of lodgepole pine. If the disease persists for two or more years, it can kill the tree (Peterson 1982).
The sequoia and Douglas-fir pitch moths, Synanthedon sequoiae and S. novaroensis, consume the phloem of lodgepole pines within the species' range in CA, OR, WA, ID, W MT and S BC. Impacts are generally minor, but small trees may be killed. The moths can be a serious pest in seed orchards or in urban trees (Mehmel and Buhl 2017).
Comandra blister rust is discussed on the subsp. latifolia page.
Western gall rust is discussed on the subsp. latifolia page.
Lodgepole needle miner is discussed on the subsp. murrayana page.

Pinus contorta has become naturalised in some areas including New Zealand, and more locally in Britain; in New Zealand this has long been a serious problem adversely affecting native vegetation and sometimes ecosystem processes such as fire (papers in Richardson 1998). In more recent years it has also become a problem species invading native vegetation types in Australia, Chile and Argentina, where it has contributed to reduced vegetation species diversity and increased fire risk (Langdon et al. 2019, Vacek et al. 2022).

Remarkable Specimens

Generally, the largest individuals are found in subsp. murrayana, followed by subsp. contorta and then subsp. latifolia. Some trees of var. bolanderi are of size commensurate with var. contorta, but when growing on adverse soils this is the smallest pine and one of the smallest of all conifers, with sexually mature individuals as short as 20 cm recorded.

The oldest known trees are all in subsp. murrayana.

Ethnobotany

Aboriginal uses for P. contorta were many, and do not seem to have varied much between the different subspecies, except that none of the accounts I have yet found addressed tribes within the range of subsp. murrayana. The uses can broadly be divided into medicine, food, and other uses.

Medicinal uses included the following (Deur 2022, NAEB 2025):

Smoldering twigs applied to ease joint pain (Haisla and Hanaksiala people).
Poultice or salve containing P. contorta resins combined with other ingredients used to treat rheumatism, muscle and joint aches (Bella Coola, Okanagon, Thompson peoples), burns and boils (Flathead), heart trouble (Bella Coola), psoriasis (Coast Salish), open sores (Quinault), congestion or purification after a sweat bath (Thompson), and cuts and scrapes (Bella Coola and Quinault peoples).
Decoction of foliage and inner bark used for coughing and colds (Alaskan Inuit, Kwakiutl, Okanagan-Colville, Okanagon, Quinault, Shuswap, Sikani, Thompson peoples), tuberculosis (Bella Coola, Blackfoot, Gitksan, Kutenai, Shuswap), stomach pain (Kwakiutl, Okanagan-Colville, Southern Carrier), paralysis or weakness (Northern Carrier), gonorrhea (Gitksan), syphilis (Tlingit), body sores (Northern Carrier), influenza (Thompson), and as a purgative and diuretic (Gitksan people).
Resin applied to sore eyes and to treat snowblindness (Klamath and Northern Carrier peoples).
Resin mixed with tallow and used as a cosmetic, or rubbed on the skin of newborn babies (Nitinaht and Thompson peoples).

Food uses primarily featured consumption of the cambium layer, sometimes also the sap, and the cambium might be stored and dried. This was generally done in May and June; the quality of the food was highly dependent on harvest timing and characteristics of a given tree. The Okanagan-Colville people say pollen cone ripening indicated that the cambium was ready to harvest. Cambium harvest was practiced by a great many peoples, including the Coast Salish, Coeur d'Alene, Flathead, Gitksan, Kutenai, "Montana Indian", Okanogan, Colville, Shuswap, Spokan, Thompson, and Wet'suwet'en. This was quite a high-value food, containing protein (6.25 g/100 g), carbohydrates (10.6 g/100 g), and fats (0.61 g/100 g). At one site in south-central Yukon over 1400 bark-stripped trees were recorded, with evidence of regular, sustainable cambium harvest extending for a period of over a century. The Okanagan-Colville also record that the cambium was eaten by grizzly bears. Besides eating the cambium, some peoples chewed the pitch like gum (Blackfoot, Flathead, Hesquiat peoples) or chewed the twigs for sweetness (Thompson people). The Flathead and Quinault people record using the seeds for food, but this was surely a starvation food, as it is very difficult to collect any significant volume of seed (Deur 2022, Dilbone 2011, Dilbone et al. 2013, Heffner and Heffner 2012, NAEB 2025).

Nonmedicinal uses were varied; the primary materials used were the wood and pitch (Deur 2022, NAEB 2025):

Tipi poles (Blackfoot, Cheyenne, Dakota, "Montana Indian", Paiute, and probably other peoples).
Other poles: the Blackfoot made travois poles, back rest poles, and bed supports; the Southern Kwakiutl made digging sticks; the Thompson people made fishing spears and framework poles for sleeping platforms; and the Klamath made canoe poles.
Other wooden objects include sticks notched to fasten food storage bags, story sticks, burls scraped and made into bowls, wind chimes presented to newly married couples (Blackfoot); maul heads (Haisla); small totem poles and model canoes (Nitinaht); fire tongs, cedar bark peelers, and board bending tools (Southern Kwakiutl); and firewood and sundry small tools (Kwakwaka'wakw, "Montana Indian", Thompson, and probably many other peoples). Regarding story sticks, the Blackfoot say these were prepared by older men and presented to children in return for favors. The sticks were notched to count the number of stories that the man would tell the child. They were often varnished with a solution of boiled hoof and bison phallus and sometimes red ochre was added. The stick was polished with a piece of rawhide.
The Quinault found that the pitchy wood and cones made a good fire-starter but were not popular as firewood due to sparks and heavy smoke.
The Klamath and Okanagan-Colville peoples would use the bark to make buckets for berry picking, and the "Montana Indian" would use the young bark to make baskets. The Quinault occasionally used the roots in making baskets.
The pitch and resins were often used as glue. The Blackfoot would boil the resin with bison phallus to make a glue for headdresses and bows; and the Coast Salish, Hesquiat, and likely other peoples would use it to fasten arrow and harpoon heads onto shafts.
Other pitch and resin uses included waterproofing (the Blackfoot used it to waterproof moccasins) and sealing (the Hesquiat used it to preserve and protect mats). The Nitinaht used it to make a protective coating for whaling and fishing equipment. The Thompson would mix pitch with grease to polish steatite pipes. The most unexpected use was by the Kwakwaka'wakw, who used the pitch to trap hummingbirds; their hearts were used in love medicines.
Some of the other nonmedicinal uses recorded include using the soot as a tattoo pigment and using smoldering twigs to singe and trim hair (Haisla and Hanaksiala peoples); placing the wood in a basket of water to bring rain, and burning the pine cones to stop rain (Okanagan-Colville people); and rubbing branches on hunters' bodies to hide their scent (Tolowa people).

For modern uses in habitat, see the various subspecies descriptions.

This is an important timber species, widely planted outside its native range. Most such use is probably of subsp. latifolia but some introductions have been from subsp. contorta and there has been selective breeding as well, so the commercial trees have a distinctive genome and do not fit neatly into any of the subspecies. P. contorta is a particularly important timber species in Scandinavia, where it has higher growth rates than P. sylvestris, traditionally the primary pine species. It is also cultivated in the U.K., Iceland, Chile, Argentina, and New Zealand, and it has considerable potential in Central Europe, especially for remediation of unfavorable sites with toxins, very poor soils, and pollutants. Although P. sylvestris has traditionally been the preferred pine in central Europe, P. contorta shows greater resilience under the stresses of climate change and introduced pests and pathogens. It is also widely planted in areas with severe air pollution, to which the species is resistant; and it is planted for erosion control and revegetation of sites degraded by coal mining (Fries 2017, Vacek et al. 2022).

Observations

See the various subspecies descriptions.

Remarks

Although contradictory, both the Latin and common names accurately describe the species: members of subsp. contorta, first observed growing near the Pacific Ocean (where David Douglas collected and described the species), are intricately contorted by the effects of wind and salt spray; while trees of subsp. latifolia, the commonest tree in Wyoming and much of the remainder of the Rocky Mountains, grow tall and slender, making them ideal material for the lodge-poles of Plains Indian tipis.

P. contorta and P. banksiana show some striking similarities to species of the P. mugo complex in Europe, including extensive occurrence at and near the alpine treeline, growth on strongly nutrient-limited sites, adaptation to highly acid wetland soils including peat bogs, short needles combined with small cones and seeds, and a shrub or small tree growth form. Since their evolutionary tracks diverged at the start of the Eocene with the divergence of Sections Pinus and Trifoliae (Jin et al. 2021), these commonalities must represent convergent evolution.

Most of the vast range currently occupied by P. contorta and P. banksiana was covered by glacial ice during late Pleistocene time, and considerable research has gone into the problem of determining where these species were during the last glacial maximum, and how did they come to occupy their current range? This analysis has mainly been based on mitochondrial DNA evidence with corroborating evidence from fossil pollen and habitat suitability modeling (Godbout et al. 2008, 2010; Edwards et al. 2015; Roberts and Hamann 2015, figure S1N; Marshall et al. 2002). The most likely scenario is as follows:

Refugia for subsp. contorta were likely located west of the Cordilleran ice sheet on the continental shelf of British Columbia and possibly in Haida Gwaii; and south of the ice sheet near the Pacific coast. Given the predominately coastal distribution of subsp. contorta, it is likely that both areas are now submerged, since sea level was about 100 m lower during the late Pleistocene glacial maximum about 18,000 years ago. Fossil pollen evidence indicates P. contorta presence near the ice margin in far south British Columbia at 21,000 years ago. Climate modeling indicates suitable habitat at that time in parts of western Washington and Oregon, and along the California coast in the areas where the species now occurs. By 9,000 years ago fossil pollen is found at sites in southeast Alaska.
Refugia for subsp. latifolia were likely located between the Cascade Range and the Rocky Mountains, and east of the Rocky Mountains. Climate modeling indicates widespread suitable habitat in Alaska and western Yukon 21,000 years ago, which could have been the refugium for var. yukonensis. Suitable habitat also occurred in the Columbia Plateau of eastern Washington, through the Snake River Plain of Idaho, in parts of what are now Utah and Colorado, and across much of the northern Great Plains. There is one fossil record in Idaho at that time. By 9,000 years ago fossil pollen is found at sites near the US-Canada border and along the Rocky Mountain trench, indicating that expansion into the species' current Canadian range was relatively late in postglacial time, but occurred rapidly; in much of its current Canadian range, occupancy is later than 6,000 years ago and as recent as 2,000 years ago.
P. banksiana evidently had two major refugia. One was south of the ice sheet and west of the Appalachian Mountains; the other was on the continental shelf offshore of the current Maritime Provinces. Close proximity between the pines and the ice sheet is shown by the appearance of pine pollen at 17,000 years ago, almost as quickly as the ice withdrew.

Citations

Aitken, S. N. and W. J. Libby. 1994. Evolution of the pygmy-forest edaphic subspecies of Pinus contorta across an ecological staircase. Evolution 48: 1009–1019.

Alexander, R. R., J. E. Lotan, M. J. Larson and L. A. Volland. 1983. Lodgepole pine. Pp. 63-66 in Burns, R. M. (tech. comp.), Silvicultural Systems for the Major Forest Types of the United States. Agricultural Handbook 445, USDA Forest Service.

Anderson, G. W. 1970. Sweetfern Rust on Hard Pines. 6 pp. Forest Insect and Disease Leaflet, USDA Forest Service, Washington, DC.

Anderson, Michelle D. 2003. Pinus contorta var. latifolia. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.usda.gov/database/feis/plants/tree/pinconl/all.html, accessed 2025.11.28.

Axelson, Jodi N., René I. Alfaro, and Brad C. Hawkes. 2009. Influence of fire and mountain pine beetle on the dynamics of lodgepole pine stands in British Columbia, Canada. Forest Ecology and Management 257(9):1874-1882.

Bentz, B. J., editor. 2008. Bark beetle outbreaks in western North America: causes and consequences. Univ. of Utah Press, Chicago, Ill.

Bentz, B. J., E. M. Hansen, M. Davenport, and D. Soderberg. 2022. Complexities in predicting mountain pine beetle and spruce beetle response to climate change. Pages 31–54 in Bark Beetle Management, Ecology, and Climate Change. Elsevier.

Ciesla, W. M., A. Eglitis, and R. Hanavan. 2010. Pandora Moth. 8 pp. Forest Insect and Disease Leaflet, USDA Forest Service, Washington, DC.

Ciesla, W. M., and D. R. Smith. 2011. Diprionid Sawflies on Lodgepole and Ponderosa Pines. 12 pp. Forest Insect and Disease Leaflet, USDA Forest Service, Washington, DC.

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