Needles and Cone of the Lodgepole Pine

Lodgepole Pine (Pinus contorta)

Location:  Jackson, Wyoming, USA

The Lodgepole Pine is native to North America and is  abundant in the Rocky Mountains, from the Yukon in the north, to Colorado in the south.  The trees are ecologically suited to higher elevations, above 6,000 feet.  The trees typically have single, very straight trunks.  In earlier times, American Indians used the younger trees of this species for erecting tepee lodges, hence the common name.   Today the timber is used for construction and pulp.