Description

Pinus strobus L, eastern white pine, is the largest conifer of the eastern and upper Midwest forests, reaching 150 feet in height and up to 40 inches in diameter.  In dense stands, trees produce tall, cylindrical stems with pyramidal shaped crowns, characterized by distinctive, plate like branching, especially noticeable as the trees become older.  On young growth, the bark remains rather thin, smooth, and greenish-brown in color.  On older trees the bark becomes deeply fissured and dark grayish-brown in color.  Its evergreen needles are in clusters of 5, soft, flexible, 2 1/2 to 5 inches long, and bluish-green in appearance.  Its cones are about 4 to 8 inches long and 1 inch thick.  These remain attached for 1 to several months after ripening in the autumn of the second season.

Uses

Timber: The wood of white pine is light, durable, and easy to work.  It is good lumber for toys, boxes, cabinet work, and similar items.

Christmas tree and ornamental: White pine is used occasionally in Christmas tree plantations and as ornamental planting in landscaping around homes and office buildings.  It can also be sheared as a hedge.

Wildlife: It has fair wildlife value.  Gray and red squirrels, deer, mice and 16 species of songbirds have been known to eat the seed.

Erosion control: White pine is frequently used for windbreaks and screens along fields, new right-of-ways, and around campsites.

Adaptation and Distribution

Eastern white pine grows on a variety of soils ranging from light, sandy to heavy textured soils.  White pine ranges across southern Canada from Manitoba to Newfoundland, throughout the northern and eastern states from Minnesota and northern Iowa to the Atlantic coast, and southward along the Appalachian Mountains to northern Georgia and Alabama.

References

Dickerson, J. (2002). Eastern white pine (pinus strobus L.) fact sheet. Retrieved from http://plants.usda.gov/java/factSheet