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Willamette Valley ponderosa pine
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Gymnospermae
Division: Pinophyta
Class: Pinopsida
Order: Pinales
Family: Pinaceae
Genus: Pinus
Species: P. ponderosa
Population: Willamette Valley ponderosa pine

The Willamette Valley ponderosa pine is a population of the ponderosa pine ( Pinus ponderosa) native to the Willamette Valley in Oregon. It is adapted for Western Oregon's wet winter and dry summer.[ citation needed]

History

The Willamette Valley ponderosa variant only grows on the valley floor, unlike the Douglas-fir, which grows on hillsides, and the wood is softer and easier to mill than the native hardwoods. [1] Because of this, when early settlers used wood from the trees to build homes and cleared land for agriculture, the population was "decimated". [1] Prior to restoration efforts, the pine survived only in scattered stands between Hillsboro and Cottage Grove. [1] The Lewis's woodpecker and the slender-billed nuthatch (a subspecies of the white-breasted nuthatch) nest in the tree and rely on it for food–their populations were reduced along with that of the pine. [1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Ryan, Catherine (March 28, 2012). "Loggers Give Unique Oregon Ponderosa Pine a Lifeline". High Country News. Retrieved March 12, 2015.

External links