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shortleaf pine

Jack pine, pin gris, scrub pine

Habit Trees to 40m; trunk to 1.2m diam., straight; crown rounded to conic. Trees to 27m; trunk to 0.6m diam., straight to crooked; crown becoming irregularly rounded or spreading and flattened.
Bark

red-brown, scaly-plated, plates with evident resin pockets.

orange- to red-brown, scaly.

Branches

spreading-ascending; 2-year-old branchlets slender (ca. 5mm or less), greenish brown to red-brown, often glaucous, aging red-brown to gray, roughened and cracking below leafy portion.

descending to spreading-ascending, poorly self-pruning;

twigs slender, orange-red to red-brown, aging gray-brown, rough.

Buds

ovoid to cylindric, red-brown, 0.5–0.7(–1)cm, resinous.

ovoid, red-brown, 0.5–1cm, resinous;

scale margins nearly entire.

Leaves

2(–3) per fascicle, spreading-ascending, persistent 3–5 years, (5–)7–11(–13)cm × ca. 1mm, straight, slightly twisted, gray- to yellow-green, all surfaces with fine stomatal lines, margins finely serrulate, apex abruptly acute;

sheath 0.5–1(–1.5)cm, base persistent.

2 per fascicle, spreading or ascending, persisting 2–3 years, 2–5cm × 1–1.5(–2)mm, twisted, yellow-green, all surfaces with fine stomatal lines, margins finely serrulate, apex acute to short-subulate;

sheath 0.3–0.6cm, semipersistent.

Pollen cones

cylindric, 15–20mm, yellow- to pale purple-green.

cylindric, 10–15mm, yellow to orange-brown.

Seed(s)

cones maturing in 2 years, semipersistent, solitary or clustered, spreading, symmetric, lanceoloid or narrowly ovoid before opening, ovoid-conic when open, 4–6(–7)cm, red-brown, aging gray, nearly sessile or on stalks to 1cm, scales lacking contrasting dark border on adaxial surfaces distally;

umbo central, with elongate to short, stout, sharp prickle.

cones maturing in 2 years, shedding seeds soon thereafter or often long-serotinous and shedding seeds only through age or fire, upcurved, asymmetric, lanceoloid before opening, ovoid when open, 3–5.5cm, tan to light brown or greenish yellow, slick, nearly sessile or short-stalked, most apophyses depressed but increasingly mammillate toward outer cone base;

umbo central, depressed, small, sunken centrally, unarmed or with a small, reflexed apiculus.

2n

=24.

=24.

Pinus echinata

Pinus banksiana

Habitat Uplands, dry forests Fire successional in boreal forests, tundra transition, dry flats, and hills, sandy soils
Elevation 200–610m (700–2000ft) 0–800m (0–2600ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; AR; DE; FL; GA; IL; KY; LA; MD; MO; MS; NC; NY; OH; OK; PA; SC; TN; TX; VA; WV
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
IL; IN; ME; MI; MN; NH; NY; PA; VT; WI; AB; BC; MB; NB; NS; NT; ON; PE; QC; SK
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Although Pinus echinata is highly valued for timber and pulpwood, it is afflicted by root rot. It hybridizes with P. taeda, the pine most commonly associated with it.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Pinus banksiana reaches its largest size and best form in Canada. In western Alberta and in northeastern British Columbia, it is sympatric with P. contorta and forms hybrid swarms with that species.

Jack pine (Pinus banksiana) is the territorial tree of the Northwest Territories.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 2. FNA vol. 2.
Parent taxa Pinaceae > Pinus Pinaceae > Pinus
Sibling taxa
P. albicaulis, P. aristata, P. attenuata, P. balfouriana, P. banksiana, P. cembroides, P. clausa, P. contorta, P. coulteri, P. edulis, P. elliottii, P. engelmannii, P. flexilis, P. glabra, P. jeffreyi, P. lambertiana, P. leiophylla, P. longaeva, P. monophylla, P. monticola, P. muricata, P. palustris, P. ponderosa, P. pungens, P. quadrifolia, P. radiata, P. resinosa, P. rigida, P. sabiniana, P. serotina, P. strobiformis, P. strobus, P. sylvestris, P. taeda, P. torreyana, P. virginiana, P. washoensis
P. albicaulis, P. aristata, P. attenuata, P. balfouriana, P. cembroides, P. clausa, P. contorta, P. coulteri, P. echinata, P. edulis, P. elliottii, P. engelmannii, P. flexilis, P. glabra, P. jeffreyi, P. lambertiana, P. leiophylla, P. longaeva, P. monophylla, P. monticola, P. muricata, P. palustris, P. ponderosa, P. pungens, P. quadrifolia, P. radiata, P. resinosa, P. rigida, P. sabiniana, P. serotina, P. strobiformis, P. strobus, P. sylvestris, P. taeda, P. torreyana, P. virginiana, P. washoensis
Synonyms P. divaricata, P. sylvestris var. divaricata
Name authority Miller: Gard. Dict., ed. 8 Pinus no. 12. (1768) Lambert: Descr. Pinus 1: 7, plate 3. (1803)
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