PINECONE LODGE
OF PIKES PEAK

Plants at Pinecone Lodge

We only identified trees and a few other plants.

(We would be delighted if you identified other plants on the property!)

Trees
Englemann Spruce (Picea engelmannii)

An Englemann Spruce Tree at Pinecone Lodge

The Englemann Spruce typically grow to heights of 100-120 feet and have life spans of about 400 years. There are a few mature ones on the property, plus we planted 30 in April 2006.The needles are dull, flexible, and have four sides, not at all like the Ponderosa Pine needles. Squirrels eat the seeds within the cones and leave behind piles of cone scales beneath the tree. Over the years the heap builds up and is called a midden.

Ponderosa Pine (Pinus ponderosa)

A Ponderosa Pine Tree at Pinecone Lodge

There are about 1,000 Ponderosa Pine trees at Pinecone Lodge; They grow from 150-230 feet tall, and live for 300-500 years.

Look on this Web site at the photographs of views. Perhaps you can see why we named this property Pinecone Lodge. This is the most widely distributed and common pine in North America. It’s named for its ponderous, or heavy, wood. Quail, nutcrackers, squirrels, chipmunks, and many other kinds of wildlife eat the seeds inside the pinecones.

Place your nose next to the bark of a large Ponderosa Pine. You can smell the scent of vanilla or butterscotch. The aroma is produced only after the tree is about 75 years old. The Abert’s Squirrels at Pinecone Lodge choose a certain ponderosa as its preferred home and food source simply because of the tree’s scent. Short sticks with the bark stripped off at the base of the tree are evidence of the squirrels.

The inner cambium layer of Ponderosa Pines is edible and extremely rich in nutrients. During Spring, the cambium layer, which is about 1/16 of an inch thick, is sweetened by the sap within much like maple syrup.

Managing the Pinecone Lodge Forest

Most of our Ponderosa Pine trees are infected with dwarf mistletoe, have been invaded by pine bark beetles, or suffered both. They also seem to be a favorite food for our porcupines.

Ponderosa Pine with Porcupine Damage

 
Porcupine Damage at Pinecone Lodge

Look carefully at these two photographs. Can you see where the bark has been ripped off? This damage was done in January 2007 by porcupines eating the bark. You will see porcupine damage to many pine trees on the property.

Ponderosa Pine with Pine Bark Beetle Damage

Do you see many small holes on this stump? The holes are caused by an insect called Ips beetle or Pine Bark Beetle. They killed the tree. The large holes were dug by woodpeckers.

Bark removed showing Pine Bark Beetle Damage

Adults bore through the outer bark and then tunnel and lay eggs in the soft inner bark. The development of larvae and pupae is completed in the outer bark. Adults develop from pupae and emerge by boring out through the bark. Many generations can be produced in any given year. Upon removal of the infested bark, the tunnels of the beetles will be found grooving the inner bark surface.

Ponderosa Pine at Pinecone Lodge that Developed a Witches Broom

A Witches Broom at Pinecone Lodge

Look at this photograph of a Pinecone Lodge pine tree. Do you see many branches, a dense growth, too many branches it seems, at one place in the tree? This is called a witches broom. It is a dense growth stimulated by a disease, abnormal proliferations of many small twigs which appear as a mass of twigs and foliage. Probably in less than 100 years this tree will become another decaying log.

Quaking Aspen (Populus tremuloides)

Quaking Aspens at Pinecone Lodge

Quaking Aspens are the most widely distributed tree in North America.

They typically grow to about 100 feet tall and live for 70-100 years. The name refers to the leaves that tremble in the slightest breeze. Aspens are famous for their golden color in autumn. We have several dozen mature ones on the property. We planted 30 in April 2006.

Quaking Aspen with Porcupine Damage

 
More Porcupine Damage at Pinecone Lodge

Porcupines girdled (ate the bark completely around the tree trunk) most of the aspens while eating the bark for dinner.

Quaking Aspen with Deer and Elk Damage

Aspen Scars: The dark scars on an aspen tree's white bark are caused by elk, deer and other foraging animals that nibble on the soft inner bark when deep snows bury grasses and shrubs. Besides chewing on aspen bark for food, elk and mule deer rub their antlers against the trunks to shed velvet in autumn. Other aspen scars are made by black bears marking their territory, and woodpeckers creating holes to search for insects or make nests. If injured or grazed on too severely, some of these aspen trees will die. Healthy aspens without scars thrive where there are fewer impacts from wildlife.

Aspen scarred by elk

Douglas Fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii)
Douglas Fir grows to about 130 feet tall and lives for 300 years; we planted 30 in April 2006. No photographs yet; they're still small saplings.

Shrubs
Wild Rose (Rosa woodsii)
Wild Rose grows 2 to 5 feet high and lives for 30 years; we planted 50 in April 2006.

Caragana (Caragana arborescens)
Caragana grows to 12 feet tall and lives for 40 years; we planted 50 in April 2006.

Other Plants
Dwarf mistletoe (Arceuthobium vaginatum ssp. cryptopdum)

   
Dwarf Mistletoe at Pinecone Lodge

Look carefully at this photograph. Do you see something dark brown growing out of the branches. You’re right. It doesn’t belong there. That is called dwarf mistletoe. It’s a parasite, and will kill the tree. Properly managed, the larger trees can survive for another 30-60 years. Left alone, infected trees will die in 7 or 8 years. All 1,000 Ponderosa Pines at Pinecone Lodge are infected with dwarf mistletoe. About 25% of Colorado’s Ponderosa Pines are infected with dwarf mistletoe. In April 2006, we planted 30 Douglas Fir and 30 Englemann Spruce trees because they are not affected by dwarf mistletoe.

Dwarf mistletoes are small, leafless, parasitic flowering plants. The seeds, explosively discharged from the fruit at almost 60 mph, are sticky and adhere to any surface they strike. Seeds that stick to young branches germinate, and the mistletoe rootlet penetrates the bark. Dwarf mistletoe seeds generally are dispersed in August and early September.

Dwarf mistletoes grow into the bark and phloem of the tree. The parasite produces root-like structures called "sinkers" that form each year. Sinkers become embedded deep in the wood as twigs grow. These sinkers provide the parasite with water and nutrients obtained from the tree.

Dwarf mistletoes kill by slowly robbing the tree of food and water. Diseased trees decline and die from the top down as lower infected branches take more food and water. Death occurs slowly in most cases and depends on the severity of infection and on the vigor and size of the tree.

Dwarf mistletoes have a relatively long life cycle between infection and seed production (six to eight years). This allows for long-term disease management. However, when trees are heavily infested by mistletoe, they are commonly attacked by twig and Ips bark beetles that kill branches or whole trees.

Pikes Peak Cactus (Pediocactus simpsonii v. minor, pediocactus)

Pikes Peak Cactus at Pinecone Lodge

Pikes Peak Cactus likes a pure mineral soil with no organic matter. It prefers a mountainous habitat in dry, rocky soil, which is what we have at Pinecone Lodge.