Today’s guest blog is a special Christmas treat. The information was written by Dr. Jon Storm, who pens the popular Facebook Page, Southern Piedmont Natural History, and is reprinted with his permission. If you have ever wanted to identify a pine tree, read on. Don’t miss the tidbits accompanying each of the fabulous photos.
Across the Piedmont of the Carolinas and Georgia, the most common pine trees you will find are the loblolly, shortleaf, and Virginia pine. They can be distinguished by the length, shape, and bundling of their needles. Two other pines you might occasionally find are the longleaf and eastern white pine. All of them are native.
Eastern White Pine (Pinus strobus) has thin, flexible needles that are 3-5 inches long. There are 5 needles per bundle (fascicle). One way to remember this is that ‘white’ has 5 letters. The needles also have a bluish-green color relative to our other pines. Eastern White Pines are more common in the Blue Ridge, but you can occasionally find them in woodlands of the upper Piedmont.
Loblolly Pine (Pinus taeda) has dark green needles that come in bundles of 3. They are stiff and 6-9 inches long. This pine is abundant in the Piedmont and is often planted in pine plantations.
The name Longleaf Pine (Pinus palustris) speaks for itself. It’s much more common in the Coastal Plain, but you can occasionally find some, perhaps planted, in the Piedmont. Its needles also come in groups of 3, but they are 10-18 inches long! Historically, this was the dominant pine tree of the Coastal Plain. Longleaf Pine requires wildfires to germinate and not be outcompeted by other trees.
Shortleaf Pine (Pinus echinata) has needles in groups of 2 and occasionally 3. Needles are 2.5 - 5 inches long and straight. This tree grows across the Piedmont in dry, rocky woodlands and open fields.
Virginia Pine (Pinus virginiana) has 2 needles per bundle, with each needle being 1.5 - 3 inches long. Its distinguishing feature is that the needles twist. Virginia Pine has a scrubby appearance from the retention of its dead lower branches.
Pine cones are often used in wreaths and other Christmas decorations. But what are cones and what purpose do they serve to the tree? The cones you see in wreaths are the mature, seed-bearing female cones. In many pine trees, such as the Loblolly Pine (Pinus taeda) shown below, female cones develop over 2.5 years.
Dr. Storm and his students put together a must-have book for naturalists in the NC/SC area, Field Guide to the Southern Piedmont. It is a free download. (Click HERE).
Merry Christmas, friends. I hope Santa brings you a nice, sharp pair of pruners!