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Order Pinales, Family Pinaceae, Genus Pinus
Pinus flexilus is not common in our woods, but there are more of them than I originally thought, sparsely intersperced among the other conifers. Few individuals I have seen are large; most are very young plants. In some parts of North America they are afflicted with White Pine Blister Rust, a fungus for which the alternate host is Ribes, or Gooseberry. The Limbers in the Caribou area have been hit hard by beetles.
Here's a close up of a healthy group with five stems.
Mature bark of Limber Pine is grey.
Immature bark, also gray, is bumpy.
Limber Pine has five needles per bundle.
The cones of Limber Pine are very beautiful and robust.