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Common Name:
Pitch Pine
Family:
Pinaceae
Entry Author: Jeff Chichester
Description: Medium sized often misshaped tree that varies in form, although a tall columnar bole and open crown are produced when favorable conditions prevail.
Needles: 3 to 5 in. length, yellow-green color, in bundles of three.
Cones: 2 to 3.5 in. length, ovoid shape, each scale ends in a sharp thorn. Cones need two seasons to mature.
Bark: Dark and scaly on young trees, brownish yellow fissured appearance as tree matures. Tufts of needles growing from bark is a characteristic of this species.
Height: 50 to 60 ft.
Life Span: By the age of ninety growth in height ceases, maximum age can reach 200 years.
Conditions/Habitat/Kind of Forest: Found on typically poor, dry, sandy soil that is often too sterile for most other trees, usually found in the company of gray birch, and scrub oak.
Range: Eastern North America from southern New Brunswick, Canada, ranging south to northern Georgia in United States.
Ecological Interactions: Cones open and disperse seeds at irregular intervals thus allowing winter foraging of seeds by small mammals and birds.
Uses (Human): Seedlings are widely produced for reforestation. In early colonial times it was used to produce tar, and turpentine.
References:
Harlow, W., Harrar, E., White, F., (1979). Textbook of Dendrology. New York: McGraw Hill
Harlow, W. (1942). Trees of the Eastern and CentralUnited States and Canada. New York: Dover Publications Inc.
