64. Bristlecone Pine

Tree Tour

Previous

Next

Ten Bristlecone pines are north of Architecture Hall, with six shore pines. Unique among pines, the needles are frosted with tiny white pitch droplets. In other respects, the tree is like various southwestern "foxtail pines," dense in growth, the shoots set with dark, short needles, five per bundle. The cones which occasion its names are indeed tipped by slender spines or bristles. Looks aside, bristlecone pine is famous because in its arid mountain home of Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona, it can live for thousands of years. In cultivation it proves slow, bushy, dark and enduring of difficult sites.

Pictured below: Map of geographical range of Bristlecone Pine.

Tree Tour Previous Next