The importance of lodgepole pine in Irish forestry.

Abstract

The genus Pinus, of which Pinus contorta is a member, is one of the most widely distributed genera in the northern hemisphere. It contains over 90 species extending from the polar region to the tropics. It is the only northern hemisphere genus which occurs naturally south of the equator (Wright 1962). Within this very large genus, Pinus contorta belongs to the subgenus Pinus or hard pines and within this subgenus to the subsection contortae. Allied to it within this subsection, are Pinus divericata (banksiana), P. l'irginiana and P. clausa, all of which are native to North America. Two of these species are found in eastern North America and the other two in western North America (Critchfield and Little 1966).