We were cruising merrily (very merrily after a wine tasting at Knipprath Cellars) along on our way from one wine cellar to another between Coeur d"Alene, Idaho and Spokane, Washington last summer when we noticed this very unusual conifer.We stopped (of course), hopped out of the car, and began examining the tree to try to determine what it was. We noted the number and size of the needles in each bundle, the shape of the cones, and even scratched about on the ground to gather any viable cones.
When we finally got back to Georgia, we scoured through our ever-growing library of plants and the web of course and finally determined, as best we could, that this indeed was a Foxtail Pine (Pinus balfouriana).
The cones we gathered did not survive the trip back across the country, and lucky for them as we doubt they would have been good candidates for our area. This is a tree that normally inhabits the alpine and sub-alpine regions of the country. Don't ask us how it was doing so well at this low elevation and in a very arid parking lot!
Let us know if you have ever seen one of these or have a picture to share of a show stopper of your own.
Oh, and yes, about that wine.... Knipprath Cellars. A very small cellar in Spokane with some unusual wines. Our favorite was a blend--literally--the owner mixed together two on the spot and added a frozen grape to the glass. A marvelous combination: LaVi (vanilla port) and auChocolat (chocolate port).
