LODGEPOLE PINE 



Pinus contorta murrayana (Balfour) Engelmann 



Lodgepole pine is the commonest tree of the Canadian Rockies. In 

 places where fire has taken toll of the primeval forest it is usually the 

 first forest growth to obtain a foothold. Here it frequently grows in 

 thickets so dense that they are almost impenetrable for animals after the 

 trees have reached a height of seven or eight feet. When full grown 

 the lodgepole pine attains a height of eighty feet, with a trunk one to 

 three feet in diameter. If the trees stand alone their branches persist 

 nearly to the base of the trunk. The tree is the one most easily available 

 for tent or tepee poles, hence its common name. A striking feature 

 of the tree is that the cones remain upon the branches for a long time, 

 often for years after the tree is dead. The wood is light yellow or nearly 

 white, soft and weak, and is little used for lumber. The Indians, in times 

 of scarcity of other food, sometimes ate the inner bark and soft sapwood. 



Lodgepole pine ranges from Colorado and California northward to 

 Saskatchewan and Alaska. 



The specimen sketched was procured on the North Fork of the 

 Saskatchewan River, at an altitude of 5,000 feet. 



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