December can be a bit of a hectic month: there are exams, relatives visiting, the hustle that comes with the holidays, you might even feel like someone has put your feet to the fire. So, when things are heating up, why not turn to an evergreen and ever ‘present’ Christmas neighbour who has learned to thrive amidst searing conditions for guidance: the lovely lodgepole pine tree. These green giants speckle both the forests and the tree-lots with their upturned branches full of sharp needles.
The waxy needles are always bundled in pairs on a lodgepole pine. They are very aromatic and much longer than spruce or fir needles. They also make excellent vitamin A and C rich tea. On younger trees, the branches are well dispersed and give the tree a nice Christmas tree shape. As it ages, its sun-loving nature means the bushy green branches get higher up as the shaded trunk below stays relatively free of branches. This leads to tall slender (less than 40 cm in diameter) and straight trunks. This feature makes them a favourite of First Nations for building tipis and other structures. This is where the name lodgepole comes from. They were also light enough to transport. In addition, the slender trunks mean that animals can move more readily through the pine forest floor.
Our official provincial tree, the lodgepole pine has adapted to grow in arid conditions, higher up in the alpine where there is less water. It lives in conditions that are perfect for fires. The lodgepole has embraced this fate; it even has thinner bark so it burns more readily and the nutritious inner bark filled with resinous sap is an excellent firestarter. When a fire starts in a lodgepole pine forest it goes up extremely fast and hot. However, this is just what the trees wanted because on their upper branches serotinous pinecones have been waiting, sometimes for a decade, to finally have enough heat to melt off their hardened resin exterior and burst open. Thousands of pinecone seeds rain onto the now nutrient rich ash covered forest floor (firefighters have been known to hear them). The young tree has a perfect sunny place to grow now that all the tall shady trees are gone, like a green phoenix rising from the ashes.
I am not by any means suggesting lighting oneself on fire this holiday season, but should things get a little heated, consider if how we are responding is going to nourish those around us and help them carry on and flourish once the flames are put out. Will we burn our inner lights brighter for the good of those younger than us? Are we the kind of neighbour who stands straight and tall to provide shelter for those in the community who need us? And lastly, but not least, as we rush out to our next December event, are we as aromatic as the pleasant pine trees around us? (That might not be a good thing.) I hope you ‘pine’ for nothing as we close out the year and wish you, your loved ones and your forests a Merry Christmas.
