Typical growth rates may not hold true .
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| Ponderosa pine needles (2 or 3 per bundle) and cone |
I read an extreme illustration of this fact in the October, 2001, Nebraskaland magazine (Volume 79, Number 8). The article, "How Nebraska Has Changed" by James Stubbendieck, showed vintage photographs and modern photographs of the same scenes. In a comparison of two photographs of Harrisburg in western Nebraska, the author comments,
"The ponderosa pines on top of the butte have had limited growth. One of the pair of trees on the left side of the 1911 photograph remains alive, while both trees on the right side of the photograph are still living. One tree is about 12 inches tall in the 1911 photograph... It is growing in a crack in the rocks and the lack of moisture and nutrients available has resulted in the tree growing only an additional 18 inches in 87 years."
As a general rule, the ponderosa pine would grow to 75 feet in height, perhaps even 100 feet, and its spread at the crown might be 50 to 75 feet. However, the stress of this particular ponderosa's extreme circumstances has dramatically stunted its growth and will probably also dramatically shorten its life!
"The power to recognize trees at a glance without examining their leaves or flowers or fruit as they are seen, for example, from the car-window during a railroad journey, can only be acquired by studying them as they grow under all possible conditions over wide areas of territory. Such an attainment may not have much practical value, but once acquired it gives to the possessor a good deal of pleasure which is denied to less fortunate travelers."
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