Description:
In looking at the distribution map it might become apparent that the lodgepole pine tends to favor two distinct environments, the immediate coast and the inland mountains. Some biologists might even separate them into two or more species. And indeed they are split into at least three subspecies. The one in the northern part (northern Cascades and Rockies) of the High Desert tends to be Pinus contorta ssp. latifolia whereas the southern part (southern Cascades and Sierra Nevada) is Pinus contorta ssp. murrayana, with intergrades in the central Cascades. The coastal subspecies is Pinus contorta ssp. contorta, with some even dividing them into another subspecies called bolanderi.
Because of its varying distribution it can be associated with many different conifers. It grows next to bishop pine on the California coast, mountain hemlock in the Sierra, and ponderosa pine in parts of the High Desert. In the High Desert area of south-central Oregon you can see great swaths of them – often they are the only species you see.
They have the shortest needles of the pines, typically about 2” long, except in saplings where they can grow to nearly 5” long. The needles group into twos, which help distinguish them from every other pine in the west. They have little 2” cones which may stay on the tree for many years.
They usually don’t grow to more than 90 feet. And one thing that always amused me – the name “lodgepole” would suggest that they are rather straight, yet the species name “contorta” might mean something rather different. I have seen them in both forms – straight and very contorted!
Personal Observations:
I have seen lodgepole pine associated with a variety of conifers – often different associations, depending on the region. I have seen them along Desert Creek east of the Sierra, near Jefferey pine, yet they didn’t grow higher up the Desert Creek mountain as you would expect. That mountain was almost entirely populated by single-leaf pinyon pine.
In eastern Oregon I have recorded them with ponderosa pine – the ponderosa’s range overlaps with them at the lodgepole’s lower range. Yet, in the Sierra they hardly ever overlap, the ponderosa usually is found at 2000 to 5000 feet, and the lodgepole ranges from 7000 to 10,000 feet. In ranges further east in Oregon I have seen them in Mill Creek and Strawberry Wildernesses, as well as on the way to Paulina Lake and Newberry Crater.
The ones I saw along the California and Oregon coasts really didn’t look at all like the ones further inland. They seemed more “contorted” and the foliage darker green, but that maybe just had something to do with the coastal ambiance?
Links:
https://www.conifers.org/pi/Pinus_contorta.php