Western white pine

Hunt, R. S. and von Rudloff, E. 1977. Leaf-oil-terpene variation in western white pine populations of the Pacific Northwest. For. Sci. 23 507-516. 

Figure 1. Logarithm of heating time vs. temperature required to give three different reductions in swelling and shrinking when the heating was done beneath the surface of a molten metal to exclude oxygen (15). 0,1/16-in. thick Sitka spruce veneer , 1/2-in. thick cross sections of western white pine O, 3/8-in. flat sawn western white pine O, 15/16-in. thick eastern pine boards. Numbers on plot indicate antishrink efficiency (A.S.E.) in percent.

Anticopalic acid [8(17)- -13-labdadien-15-oic acid] which possesses a normal a/b ring fusion and a trans relationship between the methyl group at C-13 and the hydrogen atom at C-14, has been isolated from the western white pine,... 

Naturally Occurring Substances.— Tall oil, obtained as a by-product of pulping conifer wood chips, contains a mixture of fatty and diterpenoid resin acids and neutral compounds. The latter include" pimara-8(14),15-diene-3/S,18-diol, abieta-8,ll,13-triene-15,18-diol, 19-hydroxy-15,16-bisnorlabda-8(17)-en-13-one, 8,13i8-epoxylabd-14-en-6a-ol (6a-hydroxy-13-epimanoyl oxide), and the 9,10-secoabietatriene (41). The latter was also isolated from the bark of the jack pine (Pinus banksiana) and western white pine (P. monticola). A range of 7-monohydroxy, 1,7- and 1,11-dihydroxy-, and 1,7,11-trihydroxy-sandaraco-pimaradienes and their acetates (42) have been obtained" from Zexmenia (Compositae) species. The l,ll-diacetoxy-7-ketone and 6,7-epoxide were also isolated. 

Discussing sap-stain on soft woods, Boyce says, Certain species are peculiarly susceptible to sap-stain. This is due both to toe character of toe wood and to the climatic conditions of the region where toe species growB. Western white pine, Bpruce, raid southern yellow pine, toe last-named wood including longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.), shortleaf pine (P. echinata Mill.), and loblolly pine (P. tmda Linn.), are very subject to sap-stain, especially blue-stain, while true fir and cedar are not so easily affected. Douglas fir occupies an intermediate position. 

An early example of AE monitoring in wood was conducted by DeBaise et al. [1966]. They presented cumulative AE event records for a variety of loading configurations of western white pine. The results they report illu-... 

The sibling species I. paraconfusus, I. montanus and 7. confusus are broadly cross-attractive (Lanier and Wood, 1975), and their ranges are contiguous (parapatric) in California I. paraconfusus breeding principally in ponderosa pine west of the Sierra Nevada crest and up to 5000 ft elevation, 7. montanus in western white pine at higher elevations, and 7. confusus in the semi-desert pinon pine areas of the state. In general, closely related species such as these, which are cross-attractive, are not sympatric, whereas species from different groups, such as 7. paraconfusus and 7. pini in N. California, are not at all cross-attractive and co-exist in the same area and often the same host pine, in this case ponderosa pine. 

Conner A H, Nagasampagi B A, Rowe J W 1980 Terpenoid and other extractives of western white pine bark. Phytochemistry 19 1121-1131... 

Nickles W C, Rowe J W 1962 Chemistry of western white pine bark. For Prod J 12 374-376... 

While sapwood contains very little sterol in the ester form (traces to 0.15 moles/g, dry weight basis), the amount rises strongly to about 1.1 moles/g in the inner heartwood (37, 38). Holl and Pieczonka (38) found the acid component of the esters in both cases was comprised of a number of fatty acids. In terms of the usual nomenclature (chain length number of double bonds), the fatty acid composition of the steryl esters in spruce heartwood was found to be 12 0 (10%), 14 0(12%), 16 0(20%), 16 1 (12%), 18 0(14%), 18 1 (16%), 18 2(5%), and unidentified (11%). The composition varied only slightly from this in sapwood. In both sapwood and heartwood of the spruce, the ester was a minor form of the total sterol. The ester to free sterol ratio was about 1 2 in the inner heartwood (37). Sitosterol and other sterols have also been found to exist partly in the ester form in the heartwood of angiosperms - e.g., the slippery elm (Ulmus rubra) (24). Similarly, the sterols in the bark of the western white pine (Pinus monticola) are partly (60%) esterified (13). In both heartwood and bark the steryl composition of the ester fraction approximately reflected the composition of the free sterol fraction in that sitosterol was the major component followed by its 24-methyl analogs (13, 37). A similar situation has been observed with non-woody angiosperms - e.g., Zea mays (71). 

No subspecies or varieties are recognized for western white pine. Nonetheless, populations in the Sierra Nevada, Klamath and Warner mountains in the southern portion of its range have been observed to differ substantially from those farther north (Steinhoff et ah, 1983). 

Figure 1. The native range of western white pine...

Cones of western white pine become mature during August and September of the second year after reproductive buds differentiate. Ripe cones range from yellowish- to reddish-brown (Krugman and Jenkinson, 1974). Mature cones are usually 20 to 25 cm long, although they can vary from 5 to 36 cm (Graham, 1990). 

Western white pine seeds can remain viable for a few years in the forest floor. Seeds have shown 40% viability after one winter, 25% viabihty after two winters, and less than 1% after 3 or 4 years in the forest floor (Graham, 1990). When properly dried and cold stored, western white pine seeds can remain viable for at least 20 years (Kmgman and Jenkinson, 1974). 

A number of cone and seed insects can cause partial to almost complete failure of cone crops in years with poor or moderate crops. Substantial seed losses result from cone beetles (Conophthorus monticolae and C. labertianae) and cone moths Dioryctria abietivorella and Eucosma rescissoriana) (Fumiss and Carolin, 1977). Western white pine seeds are also eaten by both red squirrels (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) and deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus). 

On severe sites, partial shade promotes seedling establishment while on northern aspects and more sheltered sites, full sun is preferable. Due to its relative shade intolerance, western white pine grows best in full light on all sites once established (Wellner, 1965). 

In northern Idaho, western white pine initiates both height and diameter growth in early May. In British Columbia, shoot elongation usually ends by early August and buds are usually set by mid-August (Schmidt and Lotan, 1980). 

Western white pine does not layer or sprout naturally. Stem cuttings from trees more than 4 to 5 years old root with poor success (Bingham et al., 1972). Auxin promotes rooting of stem cuttings, and this effect can be further enhanced with sucrose. Needle fascicles from 2-year-old seedlings have produced roots and some have produced shoots successfully (Graham, 1990) but fascicles lose the ability to root with maturation of seedling donors (Andrews, 1980). 

Western white pine has been cloned through tissue culture, both from bud slice explants and via somatic embryogenesis. Bud explants have resulted in a relatively low multiplication rate due to the production of relatively few shoots per explant (Lapp et al, 1996). Somatic embryogenesis holds more promise. While relatively few lines that are initiated from single embryos become embryogenic, methods have been developed that yielded at least one successful line per family. The multiplication rate for the successful lines will be large (Percy et al, 2000). 

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