Scientific Name
Pinus strobus ‘Contorta’ ‘Contorted White Pine’
This cultivar of the tall, five-needle eastern white pine is known for its curiously twisted needles and branchlets. Occasionally, visitors suggest that the foliage appears to have been damaged by an errant herbicide application, but that is not the case. The twisting is simply the plant’s natural growth habit. The foliage is about 4 to 5 inches long and soft to the touch. Like all white pines, this tree has a finer texture than many other pine species.
There may be something about the local environment that particularly favors this cultivar, because many references describe it as slow growing and maturing at 25 to 30 feet tall. However, the Regis tree now stands 40 feet tall and is the second largest of its kind in Colorado, while the state champion has reached 70 feet. This cultivar was discovered in 1932 in Seneca Park in Rochester, New York.