|
|
Order Pinales, Family Pinaceae, Genus Pinus
Pinus contorta, or Lodgepole Pine, predominates on north facing slopes. Lodgepole tends to be tall and straight with shallow roots and typically grows in dense communities. While our woods are too thick, contributing to disease and fuels overload, removing too many Lodgepole Pines contributes to windfall. Wikipedia, San Juan Mountains Association, and Southwest Colorado Wildflowers have additional information.
Lodgepole prefers North facing slopes, but not exclusively.
Lodgepole has two needles per bundle.
These serotinous cones need fire to open. This individual tree, interestingly, popped cones on its trunk! I laughed at them for a few years and then suddenly they were completely gone! A real whodunnit.
I started observing this baby female cone in 2023. A cluster of male pollen cones can be seen below the baby cone.
Here it is in 2024.
In 2025, I realized this cone opens and closes depending on the weather! In sunny dry weater it is open, but when it is a)cloudy, b)wet), and/or c)cold, it closes up tightly.
The very next it was sunny, and our persnickety little cone was fully open. I do not know which of the three factors is most important.
Young needles subtended by a baby female cone.