White Bark Pine – Tree Talk Tuesday

by Brianarowens, posted in Tree Talk Tuesday

This week the featured tree in Tree Talk Tuesday is the Whitebark Pine

  • Scientific Name: Pinus albicaulus
  • Lifespan: 500-1,000 years protected
  • Height: 20-60 feet tall
  • Width: Depending on climate and elevation this tree will grow either as a single trunk or as a multi trunk tree, so width varies based on climate and elevation of growth. Above tree line, they can even have more of a shrub-like appearance. A single stem can have up to 5 foot diameter
  • Bark: Grayish in color, thin and scaly
  • Family: Conifer

The stages of a Whitebark Pine are: SEED / SEEDLING / SAPLING / MATURE. This is where the facts get fun! The Whitebark Pine relies heavily on the Clark’s Nutcracker for its continued existence. The Clark’s Nutcracker (illustrated below) will collect seeds in a little pouch under their tongue, and carries them off to bury them (known as caching). They can cache up to 90,000 Whitebark Pine seeds each year!

The best part, and the part that helps the continued existence and survival of the Whitebark Pine… the Clark’s Nutcracker doesn’t always remember WHERE the seeds were buried, and the seeds begin to grow. It can take two or more years for those seeds to begin to grow, then they are little seedling trees. As long as conditions are right, seedlings will continue to grow and be young saplings for several years. For 25+ years the saplings have a lot of environmental factors that play into them reaching maturity.

Whitebark Pines grow just below treeline (4,300-12,100 feet elevation) and require a healthy taproot to help them withstand strong winds and harsh winters! Once reaching maturity the trees begin to produce cones. It then takes another TWO YEARS for those cones to mature and produce seeds!! Only female cones produce seeds. One Whitebark Pine tree can have both male and female cones.

Once producing seeds, the Clark’s Nutcracker collects, and caches the seeds, forgets about some of them, and after a few years, those seeds begin to grow! What a crazy lifecycle the Whitebark Pine has!

Both the Whitebark Pine, and the Clark’s Nutcracker are in the Baby Ranger Book “Hello: Crater Lake”