High Sierra Topix

Sub murrayana is what I was looking at because of it's distribution.

John Muir in Chapter 8, The Forests, of his book The Mountains of California, lists the "Two-Leaved, or Tamarack, Pine (pinus contorta, var. Marrayana)" among the descriptions of Sierra Nevada trees. From the Latin name and Muir's description, this is clearly a reference to what we now call the Lodgepole Pine. Others are correct that on the East Coast "Tamarack" is often used for the Larch; but not apparently in the literature of the Sierra Nevada. I am quite curious about the origin of the term Tamarack Pine for Lodgepoles, but to trace the source further back would probably take weeks of diving through botany texts of the 1800's... If anyone has any more information on this topic, please do continue the post!