Limber Pine
Pinus flexilis
Pine family (Pinaceae)

The twigs of this slow growing, long-lived pine are so flexible that they can be tied in a knot. This characteristic gives rise to its common and species name. Trees may take several hundred years to reach maturity and live to be over 1,000 years old. Limber Pine grows across a wide range of elevations, inhabiting some of the driest sites capable of supporting trees. The tree has little commercial value but its large, wingless seeds have high energy content and provide critical food for rodents and birds, which cache the seeds for later use. Other animals, such as bears, benefit from these caches.

Description

Coniferous tree to 50' tall, often smaller. Needles in bundles of 5 along twig, 2-3" long on stout twigs that are very flexible. Trunk is gray, darkening with age, often branched and twisted. Cones 3-7" long with no prickles, green when immature, thick woody scales when older. Older cones often intact under tree. The central trunk is usually distorted, many branched, and twisted.

Field Marks

5-needle pine with flexible twigs.

© Al Schneider