Editing Pinus contorta (section)

== Description ==
Depending on subspecies, ''Pinus contorta'' grows as an evergreen shrub or tree. The shrub form is [[krummholz]] and is approximately {{convert|1|to|3|m|ft|0|sp=us}} high. The thin and narrow-crowned tree can grow {{convert|40|to|50|m|ft|abbr=on}} high and achieve up to {{convert|2|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} in diameter at chest height.<ref name="FNA">{{eFloras|1|233500927|Pinus contorta |family=Pinaceae |first=Robert |last=Kral |access-date=12 September 2010}}</ref> The ''murrayana'' subspecies is the tallest. The [[Crown (botany)|crown]] is rounded and the top of the tree is flattened. In dense forests, the tree has a slim, conical crown. The formation of twin trees is common in some populations in [[British Columbia]]. The elastic branches stand upright or overhang and are difficult to break. The branches are covered with short shoots that are easy to remove.<ref name="WTU Herbarium2015">{{cite web | url= http://biology.burke.washington.edu/herbarium/imagecollection.php?Genus=Pinus&Species=contorta | editor-last= Giblin | editor-first= David |  year= 2015 | title= ''Pinus contorta'' | website= WTU Herbarium Image Collection | publisher= Burke Museum, University of Washington | access-date= 2015-01-24}}</ref><ref name=Schutt>{{cite book |last1=Schütt |first1=Weisgerber |last2=Schuck |first2=Lang |last3=Stimm |first3=Roloff |title=Lexikon der Nadelbäume|publisher=Nikol|location=Hamburg, Germany|year=2008|isbn=978-3-933203-80-9|pages=365–367}}</ref><ref name="Klinkenberg2014">{{cite web | url= http://linnet.geog.ubc.ca/Atlas/Atlas.aspx?sciname=Pinus%20contorta | editor-last= Klinkenberg | editor-first= Brian | year= 2014 | title= ''Pinus contorta'' | website= E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Plants of British Columbia [eflora.bc.ca]. | publisher= Lab for Advanced Spatial Analysis, Department of Geography, University of British Columbia, Vancouver | access-date= 2015-01-24 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150226140836/http://linnet.geog.ubc.ca/Atlas/Atlas.aspx?sciname=Pinus%20contorta | archive-date= 26 February 2015 | url-status= dead }}</ref>

The species name is ''contorta'' because of the twisted, bent pines (shore pine)<ref name=":0" /> found at coastal areas and the tree's twisted [[pine needle|needles]].<ref name=handbook /><ref name=boise>{{Cite web |url=http://www.fs.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsinternet/!ut/p/c4/04_SB8K8xLLM9MSSzPy8xBz9CP0os3gjAwhwtDDw9_AI8zPyhQoY6BdkOyoCAGixyPg!/?navtype=BROWSEBYSUBJECT&cid=fsed_009750&navid=150130000000000&pnavid=150000000000000&ss=110402&position=Feature.Html&ttype=detail&pn| publisher= U.S. Forest Service |title=Plants and Trees: lodgepole pine|access-date=12 August 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://oregonstate.edu/dept/ldplants/picoc.htm|title=Pinus contorta var. contorta: Shore Pine |publisher=Oregon State University |access-date=12 August 2014}}</ref> ''Pinus contorta'' is occasionally known under several English names: black pine, scrub pine, and coast pine.<ref name=craterlake>{{cite web|url=http://www.craterlakeinstitute.com/online-library/forests-crater-lake/lodgepole-pine.htm|title=Forests of Crater Lake National Park: Lodgepole Pine (Pinus Contorta)|publisher=Crater Lake Institute|access-date=12 August 2014}}</ref><ref name="FEIS var contorta" /> ''P. contorta'' subsp. ''latifolia'' will hybridise with the closely related [[jack pine]] (''P. banksiana'').

The bark of lodgepole pine is thin, scaly and grayish brown.<ref name=":0" /> Shore pine bark is somewhat thick and corky, fissuring into a checkered pattern.<ref name=":0" /> Some lodgepole pines have been reported in low elevations with features closer to those of the shore pine, including the bark.<ref name=":0" />

Tamarack pine can grow up to centuries old and lodgepole pines in [[Yellowstone National Park|Yellowstone Park]] have survived over 300 years.<ref name=":0" />
[[File:Lodgepole Pine as Bonsai.jpg|thumb|Lodgepole pine being trained as [[bonsai]]. Notice the use of wire to position the branches of the tree. This is a yamadori (wild collected specimen) and has been styled by American bonsai artist [[Bjorn Bjorholm]].]]
=== Foliage ===
[[File:Pinus contorta 28289.JPG|thumb|right|The needles are {{convert|4|to|8|cm|in|frac=2|abbr=on}} long in fascicles of two, alternate on twigs. The female cones are {{convert|3|to|7|cm|in|frac=2|abbr=on}} long with sharp-tipped scales.]]
The egg-shaped growth [[bud]]s are reddish-brown and between {{convert|20|and|30|mm|in|frac=4|sp=us}} long. They are short pointed, slightly rotated, and very resinous. Spring growth starts in beginning of April and the annual growth is completed by early July. The dark and mostly shiny needles are pointed and {{convert|4|to|8|cm|in|frac=2|sp=us}} long and {{convert|0.9|to|2|mm|in|abbr=on|frac=32}} wide. The needle edge is weakly to strongly serrated. The needles are in pairs on [[Fascicle (botany)|short shoots]] and rotated about the shoots' longitudinal axes. In [[Alberta]] above {{convert|2000|m|ft|abbr=on}}, 1 to 5 needles occur per short shoot. A population with a high proportion of three-needled short shoots occurs in the Yukon. Needles live an average of four to six years, with a maximum of 13 years.<ref name=Schutt /> The foliage of lodgepole pine is yellow-green as compared to shore pine, which is dark green.<ref name=":0" />

=== Cones ===
The [[Conifer cone|cones]] of lodgepole and shore pine begin to be produced when the trees are about ten years old.<ref name=":0" /> The cones are {{convert|3|–|7|cm|frac=2|abbr=on}} long, with prickles on the scales.<ref name=":0" />

Many populations of the [[Rocky Mountain]] subspecies, ''P. contorta'' subsp. ''latifolia'', have [[serotinous]] cones. This means that the cones are closed and must be exposed to high temperatures, such as from forest fires, in order to open and release their seeds.<ref>{{FEIS |last=Anderson |first=Michelle D. |date=2003 |type=tree |genus=Pinus |species=contorta |variety=latifolia }}</ref> The variation in their serotiny has been correlated with [[wildfires]] and [[mountain pine beetle]] attacks.<ref name=feduck>{{cite bioRxiv |last1=Feduck |first1=Mike |title=The genetic basis of cone serotiny in ''Pinus contorta'' as a function of mixed-severity and stand-replacement fire regimes |biorxiv=10.1101/023267}}</ref> The cones of the coastal Pacific subspecies, ''P. contorta'' subsp. ''contorta'', are typically non-serotinous,<ref name="FEIS var contorta">{{FEIS |last=Cope |first=Amy B. |date=1993 |type=tree |genus=Pinus |species=contorta |variety=contorta }}</ref> and those of the inland Pacific subspecies, ''P. contorta'' subsp. ''murrayana'', are completely non-serotinous.<ref>{{FEIS |last=Cope |first=Amy B. |date=1993 |type=tree |genus=Pinus |species=contorta |variety=murrayana }}</ref> Sometimes cones will become buried by the continued growth of a branch. If the seeds are collected, they have germinated as much as 150 years after confinement.<ref>{{cite book | last= Mills | first= Enos | date= 1915 | title= The Rocky Mountain Wonderland | location= Boston | publisher= Houghton-Mifflon | pages= 222–227 incl photo}}</ref>