Ponderosa pine 



Montana's state tree, ponderosa pine, is 

 usually found in a belt that separates 

 grassland from Douglas fir forests, al- 

 though Douglas fir are often mixed with 

 juniper in these stands. The dry uplands 

 and high benches of eastern and southeast- 

 ern Montana have open stands of this pine. 

 Shrubs that grow with ponderosa are 

 snowberry, bitterbrush, Oregon grape, and 

 chokecherry. Soils may vary from rocky to 

 deeper soils with a top layer of duff com- 

 posed of fallen needles and leaves. 



Douglas fir 



Moisture and moderate elevations are 

 the principal requirements of Douglas fir, 

 which, with subalpine fir, larch, and lodge- 

 pole pine, predominates in many of the 

 coniferous forests in Montana's Rockies. 

 Douglas fir grows in northwestern 

 Montana at elevations of up to 5,500 feet, 

 and in southern Montana at elevations of 

 up to 7,500 feet. (At higher elevations, the 

 average temperature is lower, which limits 

 the growth of Douglas fir.) Douglas fir 

 grows best on deep, moist soils on north 

 exposures. Shrubs usually growing among 

 these trees are ninebark, snowberry, and 

 kinnikinnick. Soils are mostly gravelly, 

 sandy loams. 



Engelmann spruce 



Engelmann spruce grows in cool ravines, 

 at higher elevations of western Montana, 

 and at the lower elevations of central 

 Montana. These forests have a mix of 

 Douglas fir, western larch, and lodgepole in 

 northwestern Montana. East of the Con- 

 tinental Divide larch disappears from 

 forests there. Deer, elk, and moose live in 

 these mixed forests, where undergrowth is 

 varied, with huckleberry, Solomon's seal, 

 geranium, pinegrass, and twinflower. 



^%Mv^ 



^»i»;. 







