The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

Norway pine, pin rouge, red pine

limber pine, pin blanc de l'ouest

Habit Trees to 37m; trunk to 1.5m diam., straight; crown narrowly rounded. Trees to 26m; trunk to 2m diam., straight to contorted; crown conic, becoming rounded.
Bark

light red-brown, furrowed and cross-checked into irregularly rectangular, scaly plates.

gray, nearly smooth, cross-checked in age into scaly plates and ridges.

Branches

spreading-ascending;

twigs moderately slender (to 1cm thick), orange- to red-brown, aging darker brown, rough.

spreading to ascending, often persistent to trunk base;

twigs pale red-brown, puberulous (rarely glabrous), slightly resinous, aging gray, smooth.

Buds

ovoid-acuminate, red-brown, to ca. 2cm, resinous;

scale margins fringed.

ovoid, light red-brown, 0.9–1cm, resinous;

lower scales ciliolate along margins.

Leaves

2 per fascicle, straight or slightly twisted, brittle, breaking cleanly when bent, deep yellow-green, all surfaces with narrow stomatal bands, margins serrulate, apex short-conic, acute;

sheath 1–2.5cm, base persistent.

5 per fascicle, spreading to upcurved and ascending, persisting 5–6 years, 3–7cm × 1–1.5mm, pliant, dark green, abaxial surface with less conspicuous stomatal bands than adaxial surfaces, adaxial surfaces with strong, pale stomatal bands, margins finely serrulate, apex conic-acute to acuminate;

sheath 1–1.5(–2)cm, shed early.

Pollen cones

ellipsoid, ca. 15mm, dark purple.

broadly ellipsoid-cylindric, ca. 15mm, pale red or yellow.

Seed(s)

cones maturing and opening in 2 years, spreading, symmetric, ovoid before opening, broadly ovoid to nearly globose when open, 3.5–6cm, light red-brown, nearly sessile;

apophyses slightly thickened, slightly raised, transversely low-keeled;

umbo central, centrally depressed, unarmed.

cones maturing in 2 years, shedding seeds and falling soon thereafter, spreading, symmetric, lance-ovoid before opening, cylindro-ovoid when open, 7–15cm, straw-colored, resinous, sessile to short-stalked, apophyses much thickened, strongly cross-keeled, umbo terminal, depressed.

2n

=24.

=24.

Pinus resinosa

Pinus flexilis

Habitat Sandy soils, eastern boreal forests High montane forests, often at timberline
Elevation 200–800(–1300)m (700–2600(–4300)ft) (1000–)1500–3600m ((3300–)4900–11800ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CT; IL; MA; ME; MI; MN; NH; NJ; NY; PA; VT; WI; WV; MB; NB; NF; NS; ON; PE; QC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; CA; CO; ID; MT; ND; NE; NM; NV; OR; SD; UT; WY; AB; BC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Pinus resinosa was once the most important timber pine in the Great Lakes region.

Norway pine (Pinus resinosa) is the state tree of Minnesota.

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

Pinus flexilis, much branched with a strongly tapering trunk, is little utilized because of its form and relative inaccessibility. It reportedly forms intermediates with P. strobiformis where the two overlap. The fresh-cut wood has the odor of turpentine.

(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. 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. 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. banksiana, P. cembroides, P. clausa, P. contorta, P. coulteri, P. echinata, P. edulis, P. elliottii, P. engelmannii, 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 Apinus flexilis
Name authority Aiton: Hort. Kew. 3: 367. (1789) E. James: Account Exped. Pittsburgh 2: 27, 35. (1823)
Web links