Learning to recognise trees by their bark. These photos were taken in Yosemite National Park. I would appreciate help identifying them.
Re: trees Difficult call between Pinus monticola and Pinus lambertiana. It would be easy if there were cones on the tree. What altitude was it growing at?
Re: trees About 1200-1500 metres - at that altitude, it'll be Pinus lambertiana. In the Sierra Nevada, Pinus monticola mainly occurs above about 2500 m.
I never heard of Pinus lambertiana, but a photo of a cone just came up on my Facebook feed (from the (2) Ancient Forests & Champion Trees | Facebook page), and there isn't any photo on these forums. It looks pretty amazing. Here is the photo on Instagram, which I think should be visible by anyone: Fred Breglia (Tree Man) (@bigtreehunters) • Instagram photos and videos
Can't see the pic, it gets blocked by instagram's "give us permission to spy on you before we let you see anything" flashscreen. But here's a Pinus lambertiana cone in my collection; 53 cm length:
Thanks for the photo, Michael. I have permission to post the Instagram photo, so here is a screen shot of the Pinus lambertiana cone and the accompanying text, photo credit to Fred Breglia. bigtreehunters Pinus lambertiana, the sugar pine, has the longest cones of any conifer. Sugar pines bear pinecones that can grow to 22 inches long. Native to North America, sugar pine remain the tallest of all pine tree species, reaching a height of 250 feet or more. Known as the “King of Pines,” this majestic evergreen can survive for up to 500 years.
In later years Pinus ponderosa subsp. benthamiana has been found to be essentially right there with sugar pine for height. Pinus ponderosa subsp. benthamiana (Pacific ponderosa pine) description - The Gymnosperm Database (conifers.org)
