Longleaf Pine
(Pinaceae Pinus
palustris)
Adopted in 1963.
The pine, Pinaceae
Pinus palustris, was
officially designated as the
State Tree by the General
Assembly of 1963. (Session
Laws, 1963, c. 41).
The pine is the most
common of the trees found in
North Carolina, as well as
the most important one in
the history of our State.
During the Colonial and
early Statehood periods, the
pine was a vital part of the
economy of North Carolina.
From it came many of the
"naval stores" - resin,
turpentine, and timber -
needed by merchants and the
navy for their ships. The
pine has continued to supply
North Carolina with many
important wood products,
particularly in the building
industry.
Longleaf pine (Pinus
palustris), whose
species name means "of the
marsh," has been locally
referred to as longstraw,
yellow, southern yellow,
swamp, hard or heart, pitch,
and Georgia pine. In
presettlement times, this
premier timber and naval
stores tree grew in
extensive pure stands
throughout the Atlantic and
Gulf Coastal Plains. At one
time the longleaf pine
forest may have occupied as
much as 24 million ha (60
million acres), although by
1985 less than 1.6 million
ha (4 million acres)
remained.
Description:
- Leaf:
Evergreen, very long and
feathery (8 to 18 inches
long), with three dark
green needles per
fascicle.
- Flower:
Monoecious; males
yellow-red, long, in
clusters; females oval,
purple.
- Fruit: Very
large (largest cone in
the Eastern U. S. --6 to
10 inches long), ovoid
to conical in shape,
sessile. Scales are
red-brown in color. The
umbo is armed with a
curved prickle. Maturing
September to October.
- Twig: Very
stout, brown, with large
obvious, asbestos-white
buds.
- Bark: Quite
scaly, orange-brown to
gray, will eventually
develop plates.
- Form: A
medium-sized tree with a
straight trunk, coarse
branches and tufted
needles at ends of
branches.
Taxonomic
Hierarchy
|
Kingdom |
Plantae --
Plants |
Subkingdom |
Tracheobionta --
Vascular plants |
Superdivision |
Spermatophyta --
Seed plants |
Division |
Coniferophyta –
Conifers |
Class |
Pinopsida – |
Order |
Pinales – |
Family |
Pinaceae –
Pine family |
Genus |
Pinus L.
– pine |
Species |
Pinus
palustris P.
Mill. – longleaf
pine |
Source:
Dendrology at
Virginia Tech
U.S. Department of
Agriculture
|