Hi Everyone, I'm wondering if anyone has seen a conclusive data, or been involved in any conclusive studies, which have determined the sub-species of pine which are living in Burns Bog? Is this shore pine (Pinus contorta contorta) or Lodgepole Pine (Pinus contorta latifolia)? Thanks very much! Chad.
The map at E-Flora BC Atlas Page lists Pinus contorta var. contorta Photo (ID: 12,035) Name: Pinus contorta var. contorta PhotoID: 12,035 Photo Date: 6/9/2007 Photographer: Virginia Skilton Location: Burns Bog Habitat: bog That's the only marker I see. I know nothing else about this.
This has come up before - worth searching the forum archives. I remember reading somewhere (many years ago; I can't remember where, unfortunately) the suggestion that this population was made up of subsp. latifolia derived from cones/seeds washed down the Fraser River from the Interior, with this as a suggestion why this provenance had performed so badly in UK forestry (large amounts were imported in the mid 20th century as it was cheap to harvest; it is known here as 'Lulu Island Provenance'). As far as I'm aware, this suggestion was never proven, so without further evidence, it can probably be discarded. This 1961 Irish article gives the Lulu Island provenance as subsp. contorta: https://journal.societyofirishforesters.ie/index.php/forestry/article/download/8940/8098 Another article from 1968 from Ireland, giving extensive morphological details, but without saying which subspecies the Lulu trees are: https://journal.societyofirishforesters.ie/index.php/forestry/article/download/9113/8260/ Worth going through Critchfield's 1957 monograph on Pinus contorta to see if that's got any info; it is available online at Hathi Trust here. These papers cited on the Gymnosperm Database Pinus contorta page would also be worth checking: *Wheeler, N.C. and W.B. Critchfield. 1985. The distribution and botanical characteristics of lodgepole pine: biogeographical and management implications. Pp. 1-13 in D.M. Baumgartner (ed.). Lodgepole pine: the species and its management. Pullman, WA: Washington State University. *Wheeler, N.C. and R.P. Guries. 1982a. Population structure, genic diversity, and morphological variation in Pinus contorta Dougl. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 12: 595-606. *Wheeler, N.C. and R.P. Guries. 1982b. Biogeography of lodgepole pine. Canadian Journal of Botany 60: 1805-1814.
