Montane, subalpine. Woodlands. Summer.
Andrews Lake, July 2, 2007.

Dense stands of Lodgepole Pines colonize fire-scarred areas as a subclimax forest.  Notice in the photograph that there is little shrub undergrowth.  The trees pictured are about seventy years old and the young tree in the lower right is about fifteen.

David Douglas named this species and George Engelmann named the variety that is found in Colorado: Pinus contorta variety latifolia.  Douglas was the first to identify this tree for science from specimens he found "in swampy ground near the sea coast, and abundantly near Cape Disappointment, Washington and Cape Lookout, Oregon" in the mid 1820s.  (Intermountain Flora quotation.)

Montane, subalpine. Woodlands. Summer.
Andrews Lake, July 2, 2007.

The bark of Lodgepole Pine fractures and exposes an orange layer beneath the light gray.

Montane, subalpine. Woodlands. Summer.
Andrews Lake, July 2, 2007.

Bristle-tipped cones (yellow/orange in youth, light gray in future years) remain on the tree for a number of years.  Some cones open to disperse their seeds only in fires.

The day I took this photograph, winds were releasing clouds of pollen from the male flowers at right.