Carried by 2 nurseries
View Availability at NurseryData provided by the participants of the Consortium of California Herbaria
View additional distribution information on the Jepson eflora
The Limber Pine (Pinus flexilis; family Pinaceae) is a species of pine tree that occurs in the mountains of the Western United States and Canada, specifically the subalpine areas of the Rocky Mountains from southwest Alberta south to the Mexican border; the Great Basin mountains of Nevada and Utah; and the White Mountains, the east slope of the Sierra Nevada and the San Bernardino Mountains in California with a small disjunct population in the Black Hills of South Dakota. It is typically a high-elevation pine, often marking the tree line either on its own, or with Whitebark Pine, either of the bristlecone pines, or Lodgepole Pine. In favourable conditions, it makes a tree to 20 meter, rarely 25 meter tall, but on exposed tree line sites only 5-10 meter tall. It is also called Rocky Mountain White Pine. Limber Pine is a member of the white pine group, Pinus subgenus Strobus, and like all members of that group, the leaves ('needles') are in fascicles (bundles) of five, with a deciduous sheath. This distinguishes it from the Lodgepole Pine, with two needles per fascicle, and the bristlecone pines, which share five needles per fascicle but have a semi-persistent sheath.
Tree
25 - 82 ft Tall
Upright
Slow
Winter Deciduous
Green
Summer
Bank stabilization
Full Sun, Partial Shade
Moderate
Tolerates a variety of soils.
For propagating by seed: 1-3 mos. stratification ( USDA Forest Service 1974).
1*, 2*, 3*, 4, 6, 7, 10, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18*, 19
Mountain saddles, mesas
Bristlecone Pine Forest, Lodgepole Forest, Subalpine Forest
Butterflies and moths supported
3 confirmed and 56 likely
Western Pine Elfin
Callophrys eryphon
Sugar Pine Tortrix Moth
Choristoneura lambertiana
Common Gray
Anavitrinella pampinaria