Hello to all: this is my first thread here and I hope you can help me. I would appreciate your help in IDing this kind of pine. I`m a bonsai lover and I'm looking for a good colected material for Bonsai. Last year I found this type of pine but a really don't know what type or speciment it would be. I do some photos for your help... Best regards Gabriel Patagonia / Chile ... first three pictures... branches wiht candels and cones
.. second pictures... trunk bark branch with cones, needle size, ...some trees in winter take a yellow color..
Wow Ron... really quick answer.. thanks ...do you know if this contorta pine is a good tree for Bonsai? regards Gabriel
Agree with Pinus contorta. It should work OK for bonsai - use the same techniques as for any other pine.
Ron / Michael, I've always been impressed with your knowledge, but I'm curious if you were concerned at all about ID'ing something from Chile. Do you just know that Pinus Contorta grows there as well? Somehow I assumed there would be a whole bunch of pines I'd never heard of in Chile. Daniel, Thanks for that great shot of the stunted P contorta. Not only is it a nice photo, but it lead me to the Botany Photo of the Day, which I hadn't known about before this!
Hi Pete, There are no native pines in Chile (or anywhere in South America), so any pine there has to be planted or naturalised. Pinus contorta is also one of the easiest pines to identify; the nearest confusion species is Pinus virginiana, which has very different bark, cones more widely spreading (not so reflexed down the stem), and more 'open' (less dense) foliage. All the European and Asian pines can be ruled out easily on cone structure. I'm 100% certain of its identity, and I assume Ron is too.
