Ponderosa pine bonsai that has been styled in a slant. About 200 years old.

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Ponderosa pine, Pinus ponderosa var ponderosa

One time when I went collecting my wife said to bring back a few trees her size. This is one of those. The tree is about 200 years, but, of more diminutive size. I liked the slant style, but, was always intrigued by the base. I always wondered what it would look like if I cut it off about 8" high. Now that it is time to divest myself, you'll have to tell me. I do trim needles on smaller ponderosas to keep them looking neat.

The pot is a nice Chinese pot. Overall height is 32", height above the soil is 28".

This ponderosa was collected near Dlouglas, Wyoming about 20 years ago. Based on terminal bud scale scars I'd estimate the age at 200 years.

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$1850.00
Description and photos, June 2009.

How do we know how old it is? There are two ways to measure the age. The trees we collect are growing in a pocket in the rock, they're naturally dwarfed and stunted. A few of the trees we collect don't make it. We cut them off at the base and count the rings under a microscope. We assume that trees from the same area growing under the same conditions will grow at the same rate. We've found that these trees grow at the rate of 100 years per inch in diameter. The second way is to count terminal bud scale scars. Every year the tip of a branch develops a terminal bud. That bud is protected by a hull or scale. When the bud opens the scale falls off leaving a scar. In the area we collect there are about 10 scars per inch. By measuring the distance from the base of the tree to the tip of the branch and multiplying by 10 per inch we get a good measure of age. Averaging the two methods gives us a pretty good idea of age.

Ponderosa Pine

$1850.00

Price includes UPS ground shipping

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