Colin,
The two pines are not similar. Contorta is a two needle pine while
bristlecone is a 5 needle. Contorta is "short lived" relatively and grows
rather sparse foliage. Bristlecone has dense tufts of needles on the
branches and grows very slowly.
Hope this helps.
Jerry Meislik
Whitefish Montana USA
Zone 4-5
http://www.bonsaihunk.8m.com/
I was at my local nurserey yesterday, and I found 1 Coast Pine(pinus
contorta) behind some other trees. It looks healthy, and I am thinking about
purchasing it. The reason I want to train it is because I go backpacking
through the Sierras quite a bit, and I always see the bristlecone pine,
which is one of the most amazing trees to see in nature. Is it true that the
coast pine, and bristlecone pine are nearly identical? Also, would a coast
pine make a good speciman? Thanks for any comments or advice. - Colin Horn
Orinda, CA

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