Data 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.

Plant type

Tree

Size

25 - 82 ft Tall

Form

Upright

Growth rate

Slow

Dormancy

Winter Deciduous

Calscape icon
Color

Green

Flowering season

Summer

Special uses

Bank stabilization

Sun

Full Sun, Partial Shade

Ease of care

Moderate

Soil description

Tolerates a variety of soils.

Propagation

For propagating by seed: 1-3 mos. stratification ( USDA Forest Service 1974).

Sunset Zones

1*, 2*, 3*, 4, 6, 7, 10, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18*, 19

Site type

Mountain saddles, mesas

Plant communities

Bristlecone Pine Forest, Lodgepole Forest, Subalpine Forest

Birds
Caterpillars
Butterflies

Butterflies and moths supported

3 confirmed and 56 likely

Confirmed Likely

Western Pine Elfin

Callophrys eryphon

Sugar Pine Tortrix Moth

Choristoneura lambertiana

Zenophleps lignicolorata

Common Gray

Anavitrinella pampinaria