Limber Pine, Rocky Mountain White Pine       PI-nus FLEKS-i-lis

• Conifer, evergreen, small to medium tree, 30-50 ft [14-15 m] high, short trunk, broad, rounded crown, flat-topped at maturity.  Bark light gary and smooth, later dark gray, fissured into scaly ridges or rectangular plates.  Needles are in bundles of 5, 5-9 cm long, not toothed, light or dark green, white stomatal line on all surfaces, but not always distinct.  Twigs slender, very flexible, tough.   Female cones near ends of branches, 8 to 15 cm long, egg-shaped, yellow-brown, short-stalked.
• Sun or partial shade.  Best in moist, well-drained soil, however, it is very adaptable.   In its native range it is found at low elevations, upper elevations near the tree line, on very dry sites, and along the edge of grass plains.  One of the more popular cultivars is 'Vanderwolf's Pyramid', other cultivars include 'Cessarini Blue', 'Extra Blue', 'Glauca', and 'Glauca Pendula'.
• Hardy to USDA Zone 4         Native to the Rocky Mountains, from British Columbia and Alberta to Montana and Idaho and southwest to Colorado and Arizona, and west to Utah, Nevada and California.   Isolated populations occur in northeastern Oregon, New Mexico, and the west end of the Dakotas and Nebraska.
• flexilis: flexible, the branches.