Lushootseed Name: čaxʷčəxʷayʔ (pronounced ch-ach-ch-wye)

Also called the Lodgepole Pine or Tamarack Pine

Location: South of Meany Hall in between the loading dock and the entrance to the underground parking lots beneath red square.

Summary: One of the four species of Pine native to Washington state, the Shore Pine (Pinus contorta ssp. contorta) is a variety of Lodgepole Pine that is adapted to live in a more coastal climate. These are the only pines in the state which carry their needles in bundles (or fascicles) of two. Take a trip to the rain shadow of the Olympic mountains, or into the San Juan Islands, and you are likely to find an example of this small and sometimes shrubby tree enjoying the sunshine at the margins of deeper darker coastal forests. A relatively small tree, Shore Pine is specialized to live upon infertile sites near sea level where other trees cannot survive, which may explain the somewhat tortured appearance of mature specimens, twisted, stunted, and contorted like a natural Bonsai tree. 

Another subspecies of Lodgepole Pine (Pinus contorta ssp. latifolia) may be found in the North Cascades region, and is a more drought tolerant and fire-adapted variety. This mountainous variety of the species has a bean pole-straight growth habit and has evolved to burn incredibly well. This may seem an odd survival tactic for a tree living in a fire zone, until one remembers that, biologically speaking, the point of life is reproduction rather than survival. The highly flammable parent trees burn away all other vegetation when a conflagration arises, removing competing plants so that when their offspring germinate from fire-resistant cones, they have all the resources to themselves. The resin of this tree is traditionally used by local Indigenous nations to coat canoes and to attach arrowheads, and the pitch and bark can be made into a paste for cuts, or tea for tuberculosis. In the interior regions of the country, the Rocky Mountain subspecies of Lodgepole Pine is the preferred source of poles for the tipi dwellings traditionally in use by the Great Plains Native American nations.

Historical Background: The Nisga’a of B.C. created rope using the roots. The Haida used the bark to create splints. The tree’s pitch is also quite versatile. It is used to waterproof canoes by the Sechelt people. Arrowheads were fastened onto shafts also using the pitch by the Saanich tribe. The Lower Stl’atl’imx create glue and protective coats for fishing nets. For the Coast Salish, Nuu-chah-nulth, Kwakwaka'wakw, Nuxalk, Haida, Tsimshian, and Tlingit, the pitch and bark provides medicinal properties. It could be made into a paste for cuts or tea for tuberculosis. For coastal communities, it is a common Christmas tree variety. 

Native

Native Range: Rocky Mountains, Sierra Nevada, Cascades, and Pacific Northwest coast regions

Identifying Features: Equipped with needles in fascicles of two, the Shore Pine is unlikely to be mistaken for any other Pine in native environments in Washington where it is the only native two needled pine. There are however others which do bear this feature which are non-native, including the Japanese red pine already seen on this tour. Needles are short (less than an inch to 3 inches in length), and are a deep green in color and often curved and twisted. The tree itself may grow crooked, stunted, and irregular if conditions are harsh (such as they are along the Pacific coast), or ramrod straight and tall in more favorable conditions of the Cascade mountains east side. Bark is grey to a light orange color and has been described as looking like corn flakes. Cones are small, egg shaped, and prolific, armed, and often slightly curved.

Identifying Features In Depth:

1. Form: On the coast often short up to 65” (20m), generally with a crooked trunk and irregular branching, with a pillowy crown. In more favorable condition it can grow up to 100ft (30m), straight and symmetrical with a pyramidal crown.

2. Leaves: Dark evergreen needles in fascicles of 2, generally curved and twisted and between 1-3’ in length. Needles appear in bunches at the end of branches and out the side of branches near the tip.

3. Bark: Bark is thinner than that of other pines on this tour, scaly or furrowed into cornflake like plates, dark brown to dark grey to light grey, to almost orange depending on the location.

4. Reproductive Bodies: Pollen cones grow in long clusters at the branch tip in spring and are a reddish green. The seed cones are egg shaped and 1-2’ (3-5cm) in length, with gray woody scales armed at the tip.