T r e e s  o f  N o r t h  C a r o l i n a

Pinus L. (Pinaceae)

A genus of about 110 species of trees; northern Hemisphere, south to Central America.

Thirteen species occur in North Carolina; eight are considered native to the state.

Key to Pinus in North Carolina

1. Needles 5 in each bundle, each needle with 1 vascular bundle...P. strobus (White pine)

1. Needles 2-3 (-4) in each bundle, each needle with 2 vascular bundles...2.

2. Bracts and bud scales fimbriate; sheath > 1.3 cm long; needles 20-50 cm long, in bundles of 3 (-4); twigs about 1 cm in diameter...P. palustris (Longleaf pine)

2. Bracts and bud scales entire or edged with hairs, but not fimbriate; sheath < 1.5 cm long; needles (2-) 3-30 cm long, in bundles of 2-4; twigs < 1 cm in diameter...3.

3. Needles in bundles of 3, or 2 and 3, or 3 and 4 (predominantly or at least substantially in 3s)...4.

4. Needles in bundles of 2 and 3...5.

5. Needles 3-7 cm long; prickles on cones 3-8 mm long, stout (> 1 mm wide at base of prickle)...P. pungens (Table mountain pine)

5. Needles 5-30 cm long; prickles on cones 1-3 mm long, slender (< 1 mm wide at base of prickle)...6.

6. Needles 5-12 cm long; cones 4-7 cm long...P. echinata (Shortleaf pine)

6. Needles 17-30 cm long; cones (6) 12-15 cm long...*P. elliottii (Slash pine)

4. Needles in bundles of 3 (rarely with a few 2s), or 3 and 4....7.

7. Cones distinctly longer than broad when open or closed, 5-13 cm long; needles mostly (10-) 12-23 (-28) cm long, 0.7-1.5 mm wide; buds not resinous (or only slightly so); trunks not producing adventitious sprouts (epicormic sprouting)...P. taeda (Loblolly pine)

7. Cones about as broad as long, 3-6 cm long; needles (4-) 7-16 (-20) cm long, 1.5-2.0 mm wide; buds resinous; trunks commonly producing adventitious sprouts (epicormic sprouting), especially in response to fire...8.

8. Needles (4-) 7-10 (-15) cm long, persisting only 2 years; cones opening at maturity, not serotinous; [trees of ridges, slopes, bottomlands, and bogs of the Mountains and Piedmont]...P. rigida (Pitch pine)

8. Needles (10-) 16-20 (-21) cm long, persisting 3-4 years; cones serotinous; [trees of pocosins, savannas, and other wetlands of the Coastal Plain]...P. serotina (Pond pine)

3. Needles in bundles of 2 only...9.

9. Needles stout, 1.3-2 mm wide; needles 7-16 cm long; cones 4-6 cm long, each scale bearing a small depressed mucro; [introduced tree, usually planted only on Coastal Plain barrier islands]...*P. thunbergiana (Black pine)

9. Needles slender to somewhat stout, 0.5-1.2 mm wide...10.

10. Needles 15-25 cm long; [trees naturalized on barrier islands]...*P. pinaster (Maritime pine)

10. Needles 2-17 cm long; [trees generally elsewhere]....11.

11. Needles 10-17 cm long; branches brittle; spring shoots with a single node, with 1 whorl of branches; [trees of the north, sometimes planted in our Mountains]...P. resinosa (Red pine)

11. Needles 2-13 cm long; branches flexible; spring shoots usually with several nodes (several whorls of branches); [trees of various habitats]...12.

12. Needles 5-13 cm long, twisted or not; cones opening at maturity or serotinous, the scales bearing prominent, short, stout prickles or minute, deciduous prickles, and also with a faint to conspicuous horizontal ridge; [non-native (in our immediate area) trees of Coastal Plain xeric sands]...*P. clausa (Sand pine)

12. Needles 2-8 cm long, generally twisted; cones opening at maturity, not serotinous, the scales bearing
prominent, slender prickles 2-5 mm long; [dry forests and woodlands, throughout]...P. virginiana (Virginia pine)