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Beach Pine

The Pinus Contorta Var. Contorta is commonly known as Beach Pine, Coast Pine, Lodgepole Pine, as well as Shore Pine

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Growing Regions

Shore pine occurs along the Pacific Coast from Yakutat Bay, Alaska, south through the Coast Ranges to Mendocino County, California [9,10,24,31,33]. In the eastern part of its range, shore pine occurs intermittently with Rocky Mountain lodgepole pine in the Cascade Range of northwestern Washington, British Columbia, and Alaska [38]. Shore pine is also found in the Klamath Mountains of Oregon and California [49].

     

General Information

The currently accepted scientific name of shore pine is Pinus contorta Dougl. ex Loud var. contorta [24,33]. Shore pine is one of four varieties of lodgepole pine. The other three varieties are [9,24]: Rocky Mountain lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta var. latifolia), Sierra lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta var. murrayana), Mendocino White Plains lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta var. bolanderi). This write-up will focus on shore pine.

Shore pine is a dominant species in the northern part of its range.
Farther south, shore pine is a codominant or subdominant species.  In
mixed stands, shore pine may form scrubby thickets or sparse to dense
groves.  Other vegetation is usually sparse [1,48].

Shore pine is listed as an indicator in the following published
classifications:

  Provisional plant community types of southeastern Alaska [1]
  A classification system for California's hardwood rangelands [2]
  Preliminary forest plant association management guide [11]
  Preliminary forest plant associations of the Stikine Area, Tongass
    National Forest [42]
  The Alaska vegetation classification system [46]
  The closed-cone pine and cypresses [48].

Much of the information presented here is attributed to:
Cope, Amy B. 1993. Pinus contorta var. contorta. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available at USDA Forest Service.

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