Lodgepole pine, the most abundant tree species in British Columbia (B.C.), is marketed with interior spruce and subalpine fir as the spruce-pine-fir (SPF) species group. Kiln-dried SPF lumber is used as a structural framing material in a wide variety of residential, commercial, industrial and agricultural applications.
Lodgepole pine is a highly adaptable tree that grows across B.C.’s interior, and is one of the first species to come back after a wildfire. It is used as a material in structural framing, composite boards, and high-quality joinery.
Where it grows
Lodgepole pine is a highly adaptable tree that grows throughout most of B.C.’s interior, from mid-elevation to subalpine sites. It thrives in all sorts of environments, from water-logged bogs to dry, sandy soils.
Lodgepole pine is one of the first trees to come back after a wildfire. Its cones are protected by a seal of pitch, and fire or heat is needed to release the seeds. This allows the seeds to stay on the tree or ground for many years until a disturbance such as fire or harvesting provides suitable growing conditions.
Did you know?
Lodgepole pine is one of the species found in dense thickets of small trees known as dog-hair stands, which grow very slowly because of their high density.
Identifiable characteristics
Lodgepole pine is a medium-sized evergreen conifer that can reach 30 metres in height and 20 centimetres in diameter at maturity. Its average life span is 150 to 200 years, but they can live as long as 400 years. A tall, slender, straight tree, it has a sparse, variable crown, spreading branches and a thin orangey-brown to grey bark with fine scales. The bark is thicker and more grooved on the coast. Small mammals, such as the snowshoe hare, vole and squirrel, feed on the inner bark.
The needles are usually dark green and grow in pairs. They are often twisted in a spiral with sharp points. Seed cones range from short and cylindrical to egg-shaped and are two to four centimetres long without stalks. The seed scales have sharp prickles at their tips.
Did you know?
The mountain pine beetle is a naturally occurring insect in B.C.’s interior. Since the early 1990s, it has attacked half of the total volume of commercial lodgepole pine in B.C.. The beetles carry a fungus that leaves a blue or grey stain but does not affect the wood’s structural performance capabilities.
Beetle-affected wood has been used in high-profile projects such as the Richmond Olympic Oval, a signature structure for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver.
