The Uses For Lodgepole Pine

The Uses For Lodgepole Pine

Lodgepole pine is a highly adaptable tree that grows in almost any environment. It can tolerate water logged bogs, dry sandy soils, and everything in between.

Wood

Lodgepole pine wood is used in many products. Railroad ties, mine timber, log cabins and furniture and cabinets are all made from lodgepole pine. Today, knotty pine paneling is one of the more important uses for this wood. First Nations Peoples of the west have long used lodgepole pine wood in a wide variety of ways. They stripped off long ribbons of the sugar-rich inner bark to eat or store it for later. They also boiled the pitch from the trees to make a base for medicines that relieved sore throats, aches and pain in muscles and joints, and rheumatic disease.

Cones

There are several uses for lodgepole pine cones. You can use them to make decorations, and you can also cook them to extract the seeds. Lodgepole pine cones can be harvested from the tree in late summer or early autumn. The cones turn a lustrous yellow brown as they ripen. They can be stored for a number of years and should be dried to 5-10% moisture content before storage. After drying, they can be stored at 2-5 C for 17 years or longer. One of the most interesting characteristics of the pine cone is the ability to survive fire. This is because the mature cones require a temperature increase to melt the resin that holds them together, spilling their seeds.

Bark

The bark of lodgepole pine is used for a variety of purposes. It is a first-class joinery wood for windows, doors and shutters, paneling, edge-glued shelving, siding, moldings and other architectural millwork and joinery items. It is also a major component of single species spruce-pine-fir (SPF) lumber. It is kiln dried to prevent natural staining, improve its strength and stiffness and increase its resistance to decay and attack by insects.

Seeds

Lodgepole pine seeds are edible and used in a variety of ways. Native people and settlers often chewed them to relieve sore throats or to help stop infection, and boiled or dipped them in water for dressings for scalds or burns. During the spring, they stripped long ribbons or noodles from the sweet succulent inner bark, sometimes seasoned with sugar. They also dipped the ribbons in boiling water, mixed them with animal fat and made poultices for rheumatic pain, aches and soreness of muscles and joints.

Categorised in: Lodgepoles

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