Pinus flexilis
Common name: 
Limber Pine
Rocky Mountain White Pine
Pronunciation: 
PI-nus FLEKS-i-lis
Family: 
Pinaceae
Genus: 
Pinus
Type: 
Conifer
Native to (or naturalized in) Oregon: 
Yes
  • Conifer, evergreen, small to medium tree, 30-50 ft [14-15 m] high, short trunk, broad, rounded crown, flat-topped at maturity.  Bark light gray and smooth, later dark gray, fissured into scaly ridges or rectangular plates.  Needles are in bundles of 5, 5-9 cm long, not toothed, light or dark green, white stomatal line on all surfaces, but not always distinct.  Twigs slender, very flexible, tough.   Female cones near ends of branches, 8 to 15 cm long, egg-shaped, yellow-brown, short-stalked.
  • Sun or partial shade.  Best in moist, well-drained soil, however, it is very adaptable.   In its native range it is found at low elevations, upper elevations near the tree line, on very dry sites, and along the edge of grass plains.
  • Hardy to USDA Zone 4         Native to the Rocky Mountains, from British Columbia and Alberta to Montana and Idaho and southwest to Colorado and Arizona, and west to Utah, Nevada and California.   Isolated populations occur in northeastern Oregon, New Mexico, and the west end of the Dakotas and Nebraska.
  • A popular cultivar is 'Vanderwolf's Pyramid'  -  upright, columnar form, closely spaced blue-green needles.   Other cultivars include 'Cessarini Blue', 'Extra Blue', 'Glauca', and 'Glauca Pendula'.
  • flexilis: flexible, the branches.
Click image to enlarge
  • plant habit, young tree

    plant habit, young tree

  • plant habit

    plant habit

  • branches

    branches

  • flexible branch

    flexible branch

  • branch

    branch

  • needles

    needles

  • needle cluster

    needle cluster

  • trunk,bark

    trunk,bark