Description: Large to very large tree with straight trunk and narrow, open, conical crown of horizontal branches.

Height: 30 m, up to 50m

Diameter: 0.9 m - sometimes much larger

Needles: evergreen; five in bundle; 5-10 cm long; with sheath 1.5 cm, shedding first year. Slightly stout; blue-green with whitish lines on inner surfaces, densely serrate.

Bark: Grey and thin, smooth, becoming furrowed into rectangular, scaly plates.

Cones: 13-23 cm long; narrowly cylindrical, 3 cm wide before opening; gently curved; green to purple-green; ripening yellow-brown; mostly long-stalked; becoming pendulous; opening and shedding at maturity; cone-scales thin, rounded, ending in small point, spreading widely; long-winged seeds.

Habitat: Moist mountain soils; in mixed forests and occasionally in almost pure stands.

Range: Northern Rocky Mountains from British Columbia southeast to NW Montana; also along Pacific coast south through Sierra Nevada to central California; to 1050m in north; at 1800-3000m in south. Hardy to Zone 4.

Western White Pine is one of the world's largest pines; the champion near Medford, Oregon, is 72.8 m tall. White pine blister rust, caused by a fungus, Cronartium ribicola (introduced to USA around the turn of the century from Europe), is a serious disease of this and other five-needle pines. It's alternate hosts are Ribes spp., such as blackcurrants (of which we unfortunately have quite a number, not that far away). The tree was introduced to the UK by Douglas in 1831, but all old specimens have fallen victim to this rust. The largest survivors are around 25m high.

Information: Audubon (1980), New RHS Dictionary Index (1994), Bean III (1976)

Source: Chiltern Seeds.

Purchased: Seeds arrived May 1994, one germinated 1994, one in March 1995.

Planted: Seedlings in mist propagator for some time, larger one out first, overwintered outside 96/7, both repotted in March. Remarkable that larger one survived this, as accidentally used pot with no drainage holes. This one planted out in early May 1998, whilst smaller one kept outside to harden off. Unfortunately, it had already got vine weevil from the greenhouse and succumbed over the following winter.

Progress: the tree that survived to be planted has thrived in a sheltered and fertile site, on well-drained ground raised above the surrounding field level. It is rather hemmed in by other things and hard to get at, but seems to be at 3.4m by 2004.09.27. Its growing straight up and looking very attractive.

Back to Tree Index
Bibliography of the sources cited in the "Information" section.
Arboretum home page