VALUE AND USE
SPECIES: Chimaphila umbellata | Prince's Pine 



WOOD PRODUCTS VALUE : 
NO-ENTRY


IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE : 
Prince's pine is of minor importance in winter, spring, and fall diets
of Roosevelt elk in the Pacific Northwest [43].  It is a component
of white-tailed deer winter diets in the Swan Valley, Montana [56].

Mature stands of white fir (Abies concolor)-giant chinquapin
(Chrysolepsis chrysophylla)/pachistima (Pachistima myrsinites)-prince's
pine and Shasta red fir (Abies magnifica var. shastensis)-white
fir-giant chinquapin/prince's pine-long stolon sedge (Carex inops) plant
associations in the Winema National Forest are critical elk calving and
deer fawning habitat.  They are also important for feeding and nesting
sites for birds and are suitable habitats for spotted owls, goshawks,
and pileated woodpeckers [40].  White fir-Brewer spruce/prince's pine
plant associations in the southern Oregon Cascade Mountain Province are
also excellent wildlife habitat [8].


PALATABILITY : 
NO-ENTRY


NUTRITIONAL VALUE : 
NO-ENTRY


COVER VALUE : 
NO-ENTRY


VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES : 
Prince's pine is sensitive to trampling and has a low potential for
recovery.  It may, however, recover from very low (less than 40 passes
per year) or low (75-100 passes per year) trampling intensities [13].


OTHER USES AND VALUES : 
Historically, prince's pine roots and leaves were boiled and the
infusion was ingested as a treatment for tuberculosis and long-lasting
colds.  The leaves were also used as an astringent.  Prince's pine can
also be used as an ingredient in root beer [34,40].
 


MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
In a study of lodgepole pine stands in spruce (Picea engelmannii and P.
glauca)/queencup beadlily (Clintonia uniflora) habitat types in Glacier
National Park, prince's pine displayed a significant (p<.10) decrease in
frequency in response to a mountain pine beetle infestation and was more
numerous on sites never infested than sites infested 80 years earlier.
It was negatively correlated to overstory removal and increased light
intensity, as shown by a steady decline in cover and frequency following
the epidemic [3].

Prince's pine is a major constituent of old-growth forests in the Swan
Valley, Montana.  It often persists only on sheltered, unburned
microsites.  It is present (39% frequency) in untreated old-growth and
mature stands but is absent from burned clearcuts and plantation sites
(20-30 years old).  Where standing trees remain to provide cover,
frequency may be as high as 67 percent in stands that have been select
cut without burning [22].  At other locations prince's pine has
essentially disappeared from stands or has had a major decrease in
frequency or cover following stand removal with or without subsequent
burning [4,5,14,74].

In the Vancouver Forest Region of British Columbia, prince's pine is an
indicator species in several variants of biogeoclimatic units for which
guidelines for site diagnosis, tree species selection, and slash burning
have been developed [26].  It is used as an indicator of good forest
sites in the Winema and Fremont National Forests, Oregon.  When
associated with twinflower, it is an indicator of the best fir (Abies
spp.) sites [32,40].  The presence of prince's pine is used to predict
natural regeneration success under partially cut stands on the Dead
Indian Plateau in southwest Oregon [55].

Prince's pine is not a serious competitor to conifer seedlings [7].

Related categories for Species: Chimaphila umbellata | Prince's Pine