Shore Pine is one of North America’s most beautiful two-needled pines, with short bright green needles and great bark. It has similarities to many other smaller pines which often have multiple crowns, like pinyon pines. Shore pine does have one distinct difference however, and that (appears to be) cold hardiness.
I say ‘appears to be’ because it’s more of a hunch. It does seem that at least some populations of Shore Pine are not as cold hardy as its relative, the continental, mountain-dwelling Lodgepole Pine. In some respects this is not a surprise, since many Shore Pines live close to the Northwest coastline in the same sort of zone as the Japanese Black Pine does. Anton Nijhius of Vancouver Island, Canada collects many Shore Pine, and says that some of them live at 4,000 ft in a lot of cold on the Island, so there is definitely some room for…
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