Pinus contorta var. latifolia 'Chief Joseph'
Common name: 
Chief Joseph Lodgepole Pine
Pronunciation: 
PI-nus kon-TOR-ta lat-i-FO-le-a
Family: 
Pinaceae
Genus: 
Type: 
Conifer
Native to (or naturalized in) Oregon: 
Yes
  • Conifer, evergreen tree, semi-dwarf, ovoid form, yellow (golden) in winter, medium green in summer; grows about 4-8 inches (10-20 cm) a year depending on the site.
  • Sun
  • Hardy to USDA Zone 5  The tree was found, and later introduced, by Doug Willis of Sandy, Oregon while hunting in the Wallowa Mountains of northeastern Oregon.
  • The Wallowa Valley was the summer home of the Nes Perce.  Chief Joseph (1840-1904) was a political leader, not a war chief, of a band of Nes Perce that lived in the Valley.  In 1877 he became famous as a leader of the Nez Perce in fighting a defensive war against U.S. Army forces for over three and a half months and over a distance of some 1400 miles, from Idaho to northern Montana.  The band of some 1000 consisted of men, women and children, of which less than a quarter were fighting men, was forced to surrender just 40 miles from safe haven in Canada.  He had hoped to join the Sioux chief Sitting Bull there.  Chief Joseph's father, who had been converted to Christianity in 1839, was also known as Chief Joseph, now commonly referred to as Old Chief Joseph.  Chief Joseph (sometimes known as Young Joseph) succeeded his father as leader of the Wallowa band.(Wallowa County Chieftain).
  • Silverton, Oregon: The Oregon Garden, Conifer Garden
Click image to enlarge
  • plant habit, summer and winter

    plant habit, summer and winter