Eastern White Pine
Pinus strobus L.
Mature Size: Typically 80 to 100 feet in height and 2 to 3 feet in diameter, but can reach 200 feet in height.
Form: Pyramid shaped, with a straight trunk; branches extend horizontally in rings circling the trunk, with one ring of branches per year of growth.
Habitat: Common on dry, sandy or rocky ridges, but grows best on moist, sandy loam soils.
Needles
Soft bluish-green, flexible, 3 to 5 inches long, in bundles of 5; faint white stripes on lower surface of each needle.
Flowers
Males yellow, cylindrical, clustered at branch tips; females light green tinged with red.
Cones
4 to 8 inches long, curved and stalked, with non-spiny, often gummy scales.
Bark
On young trunks and branches, thin, smooth, greenish and shiny; on older trunks, dark gray with shallow fissures and broad, flat-topped ridges.
Twigs
Slender, grayish-green to orange-brown; buds long, egg-shaped, reddish brown.
Values and Uses
The wood is light in color, straight-grained, of medium strength, and easily worked. It is used for construction lumber, cabinet making, furniture and interior finish. White pine is also grown for Christmas trees. Deer and squirrels browse the foliage and bark. The seeds are a food source for red and gray squirrels and for songbirds. White pines are often planted to stabilize the soil on strip-mined lands.
Did You Know?
Eastern white pine is the largest conifer in eastern North America. Its trunks were once in demand for use as ships' masts.
