April’s Tree of the Month: Western White Pine
Western white pines (Pinus monticola) are a favorite restoration tree in Kitsap Parks. The Western white pine is a versatile softwood tree that grows well in the dappled sunlight spreading throughout restoratively thinned forest. An added bonus is Western white pine’s ability to tolerates root diseases that hurt other trees. In the Pacific Northwest, you can find Western white pines from sea level up to subalpine elevations, from moist valleys to dry, open slopes. This is not a fussy tree!
I don’t know about you, but I often get confused as to what variety of pine I am looking at. To identify a pine, look at the needles, cones and know the primary growing range. Pines are tall, so look for fallen needles and cones in the ground for clues as to which pine you are looking at.
Western white pines have 5 bluish-green, slender and flexible needles per bundle that measure from about 2 to 4 inches long. The banana-shaped cones are 4 to 10 inches long and the scales don’t have prickles.
(In contrast, Sugar pines and Whitebark both have 5 needles, but their ranges are outside of Kitsap. Shore pines, including Lodgepole pines and Ponderosa pines, have only 2 curved and twisted needles per bundle.)
Watch this short video for more ID tips:
For native peoples of the PNW the Western white pine was a go-to source for medicines, basketry, canoes, cleaning, waterproofing. Early pioneers found Western white pine an ideal timber for construction. Did you know most matches were manufactured from Western white pine in the 1920’s and 1930’s? Western white pine is a critically important wildlife tree. The pine nuts are highly nutritious. The needles, bark and wood are also food and nesting sources for wildlife. The trees provide shelter in the canopy and cover on the ground.
There is a fatal, fungal threat to Western white pine: blister rust (Cronartium ribicola). It is a serious, widespread disease that kills Western white pines. In the early 1910’s the fungus hitchhiked onto white pines imported into British Columbia. Within 10 years blister rust ravaged the Western white pine range nearly obliterating this important native tree. However, Western white pines are hanging in there thanks to some naturally resistant trees and genetic breeding programs designed to develop resistant stock.
More information about blister rust can be found at:
https://botanicgardens.uw.edu/about/blog/2021/12/02/december-2021-plant-profile-pinus-monticola/
https://www.dnr.wa.gov/Publications/rp_fh_white_pine_blister_rust.pdf