Old Bristlecone Pine

Old Bristlecone Pine
plein air oil  14" x 11"
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$395.00 + $10. s/h

Earlier this month I participated in the annual South Park Plein Air Arts Celebration in Fairplay, CO. I love this celebration and go every year.  It's a 4 day event where artists paint at ranches and different locations that the committee arranges throughout Park County. Or, you can paint anywhere nearby.  We have mountain property in South Park.  So, for me, I love seeing local ranches and close by locations that I don't know about.

The first day of the event we painting at Bristlecone View Ranch.  We painted there several years ago, so I knew that I wanted to paint one of the old bristlecone pines.

There are three closely related species of bristlecone pines one of which is the:

• "Rocky Mountain bristlecone pine (Pinus aristata) in Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona. The most populous species; capable of forming closed canopies and, unlike the other two, is commonly cultivated."  (according to wikipedia)

All three species are long-lived and highly resilient to harsh weather and bad soils, (which definitely describes South Park!)   The oldest bristlecone is more than 5,000 years old making it the oldest known individual of any species.

(more from wikipedia:)  "Bristlecone pines grow in isolated groves just below the tree line, between 5,600 and 11,200 ft (Fairplay elevation is 9,000 feet) elevation on dolomitic soils.^[4] The trees grow in soils that are shallow lithosols, usually derived from dolomite and sometimes limestone, and occasionally sandstone or quartzite soils. Dolomitic soils are alkaline, high in calcium and magnesium, and low in phosphorus. Those factors tend to exclude other plant species, allowing bristlecones to thrive.^[8] Because of cold temperatures, dry soils, high winds, and short growing seasons,(again, great description of Fairplay)  the trees grow very slowly. Even the tree's needles, which grow in bunches of five, can remain on the tree for forty years, which gives the tree's terminal branches the unique appearance of a long bottle brush."

Old Bristlecone Pines

Old Bristlecone Pines
plein air oil  12" x 12"
click here for Paypal
$395.00 + $10. s/h
Holiday price $300.00
As I have done during past holiday seasons, all of my paintings are 25% off during December.  Changing all of the prices in my blog would be hard to do, so email and I'll send a Paypal button to you right away.   pamholnback@gmail.com

This plein air piece is from earlier this fall near Fariplay, CO when I participated in the South Park Plein Air Arts Celebration plein air event.  One day we painted at Bristlecone View Ranch just outside of Fairplay.  This grove of trees was a bit away from the ranch and covered most of a hillside.  I looked up bristlecone pine in Wikipedia and found this:

All three species are long-lived and highly resilient to harsh weather and bad soils. One of the three species, Pinus longaeva, is the longest-lived life form on Earth; the oldest individual is more than 5,000 years old,^[1] making it the oldest known individual of any species.

Despite their potential age and low reproductive rate, bristlecone pines, particularly Pinus longaeva, are usually a first succession species, tending to occupy new open ground.^[2]They generally compete poorly in less-than-harsh environments, making them hard to cultivate.^[2] In gardens, they succumb quickly to root rot.^[3] They do very well, however, where most other plants cannot even grow, such as in rocky dolomitic soils in areas with virtually no rainfall.^[2]

Bristlecone pine grow in scattered subalpine groves at high altitude in arid regions of the Western United States. The name comes from the prickles on the female cones.^[4]

Contents

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• 1Species and range
• 2Description
• 3Oldest living organisms
• 4See also
• 5References
• 6External links