STATE+TREE

MONTANA STATE TREE - PONDEROSA PINE



KEYNOTE BY ANDREY



PICTURES Ponderosa Pine Details

Bark: Very dark (nearly black)

Twig: Stout, orange in color

Leaf: Evergreen, 5 to 10 inches long.

Flower: Monoecious

Fruit: Cones are ovoid, 3 to 6 inches long.

Form: A large tree with an irregular crown.

Height: 40 feet at 20 years of age, can grow up to 223 feet tall.

Age: The average life of the tree is about 600 years

Uses: The tree is used for timber, and production of doors, windows, shelving, paneling, and furniture.

Range: Western North America, from central British Columbia south to central Mexico, west to the Pacific Ocean and east to South Dakota’s Black Hills.

Smell: When crushed, the needles smell of turpentine and citrus. On hot days they smell like vanilla.

Wood: Knotty but clear and even grained.

Habitat: Valley bottoms

Ponderosa Pine History -Montana designated the Ponderosa Pine as the official state tree in 1949.

-The Ponderosa Pine has many names including Western Yellow Pine, Bull, Black Jack, Western Red, Sierra Brown-bark, Heavy, and Western Pirch.

In 1949 the Montana Federation of Garden Clubs carried on a year-long campaign on behalf of the ponderosa.

-The state forester supported it as the “most typical” of all Montana trees and the best commercial timber “king of the forest,” he called it. The Legislature agreed.

-The biggest Ponderosa Pines are found in California.

-The largest Ponderosa Pine on record was found in California measured at about 230 feet.

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