Pinus contorta spp. contorta, Beach Pine (28)

Don’t confuse it with the Scots Pine, Pinus sylvestris, which is closely related to Pinus contorta and is growing upslope and acoss the path from the Beach Pine (Cockrell, 1976). The Scots Pine has longer needles. The particular tree also has an interesting shape, with a single trunk about 4 feet high and many smaller stems continuing above that point. It was cropped at some point, causing the interesting growth habit.

Beach Pines grow up to 50 feet tall. They have thick, fissured bark. Needles come in bundles of 2, and the cones are small and pendant. They are persistent on the tree for many years and are not serotinous (i.e., they open on the tree). Beach pines, as the name suggests, grow in coastal and lower elevation habitats up to about 500 feet. They can be found from Mendocino County northwards (Stuart and Sawyer, 2001).

Closely related to the Beach Pines are the Lodgepole Pines, Pinus contorta spp. murrayana. However, unlike the Beach Pine, the Lodgepole Pine is larger, growing up to 110 feet in height and is much longer lived (Lodgepole Pines can live to 500 or even 600 years, whereas Beach Pines usually don’t live more than 200 years) (Mirov, 1967).

The best way to distinguish between the two is by range. The Lodgepole is found in montane and subalpine environments from 5000 feet to 11500 feet. Obviously, there is no overlap between the ranges of the Beach Pine and the Lodgepole Pine. The Lodgepole Pine is an abundant tree in the Sierra Nevada.