Western white pine

Western white pine

Cones and needles of a Western white pine

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Pinophyta
Class:	Pinopsida
Order:	Pinales
Family:	Pinaceae
Genus:	Pinus
Species:	*monticola*

Binomial name

Pinus monticola

The Western white pine (Pinus monticola; Family Pinaceae) is a species of pine tree that occurs in the mountains of the Western United States and Canada, specifically the Sierra Nevada, the Cascade Range, the Coast Range, and the northern Rocky Mountains.

The Western white pine has been savaged by the white pine blister rust, a fungus that was accidently introduced from Europe in 1909. The United States Forest Service estimates that 90% of the western white pine have been killed by the blister rust. Vast stands of the white pine have been succeeded by non-pine species. The rust has also destroyed much of the whitebark pine outside of California.

The Forest Service has a program for developing rust-resistant western white pine and sugar pine [1]. Seedlings of these trees have been introduced into the wild.