Shore Pine               PI-nus kon-TOR-ta kon-TOR-ta

• Conifer, evergreen tree, 40-50 ft (12-15 m) tall, irregular, twisted (contorta: twisted, the young shoots), spreading, broad rounded crown, dark brown bark.  In the Willamette Valley, large blobs of pitch often present on trunk.  Two needles per bundle, 3-7 cm long, stout, slightly flattened, often twisted, leaf sheath 4-6 mm long.  Cones 2-5 cm long, egg-shaped, oblique, stalkless (or nearly so), tend to point backwards.  Some cones will open and release seed soon after maturing; others may unopened for several years.
• Sun.  Grows under a wide variety of soil condition.   Shore pine found in peat bogs and dry, sandy sites.  It is very tolertant of salt spray and is common along the Oregon Coast.
• Hardy to USDA Zone 7     Native from the coast of Alaska along the Pacific to northern California.  Another form, P. c. var. latifolia (Lodgepole pine), is a columnar tree found in the interior (Rocky Mountains) and eastern Oregon.  A third form, P. c. var. murrayana (Sierra Lodgepole Pine) is also recognized by some authorities.
• There are a few compact or dwarf forms of Pinus contorta, such as ‘Spaan's Dwarf’.
• Shore and Lodgepole pine are the only pines native to the Pacific Northwest that have short needles in bundles of two.
• Can be used in bonsai.
• Oregon State Univ. campus: southeast Magruder Hall.