Pinus contorta var. latifolia ‘Chief Joseph’ Specimen 1654

Description

Green summer needles begin turning gold in the fall. By winter, this plant is absolutely brilliant gold. It was found in the Wallowa Mountains by Doug Will of Sandy, OR during a hunting trip. He supposedly used an axe to dig it. This variety has proven to be difficult to propagate – yellow and some variegated conifers are typically more difficult to graft. Chief Joseph (1840-1904) was the chief of the Wallow Valley Nez Perce tribe. He became famous in 1877 for leading a three and a half month defensive war against the US Army who was attempting to forcibly remove the Natives to a reservation in Idaho.