Sand Pine

(Pinus clausa)

Color Photograph: Nearctica.com, Inc.

The white is sand, not snow.

Sand Pine (Pinus clausa)

Identifying Characters: Sand Pine can usually be identified by a combination of habitat, range, and morphological characters. The species is most commonly found on very well drained (commonly sandy) soils of central Florida. The needles occur in bundles of 2 and the cones are persistent, elongate, and slightly oblique at the base.

Similar Species: Within the majority of its range in central Florida Sand Pine can be immediately separated from other native species such as Slash Pine, Pond Pine, and Longleaf Pine by the shortness of its needles. The needles of these other pine species are at least 6 inches long versus the 2 to 3.5 inch long needles of Sand Pine. Spruce Pine which may occur with Sand Pine along the Gulf Coast has rounder and less elongate cones.

Measurements: Mature individuals of Sand Pine can reach heights of 75 to 85 feet or taller, but typical specimens on the poor, sandy soils typical of its habitat are usually much shorter, 15 to 20 feet.

Cones: Cones are elongate and ovate, often slightly oblique at the base; cones 2 to 3.5 inches long and nearly sessile to the branch; cone scales with a short, stout apical spine; cones very persistent, remaining close for several year until opening in response to fire.

Needles: Needles occur in bundles of 2 and the sheaths are not deciduous after the first year; needles are between 2 and 3.5 inches long, slender and flexible; color is dark green.

Bark: Reddish-brown and broken into scaly plates and ridges.

Native Range: Sand Pine is one of the minor southern pines with a natural range limited almost entirely to Florida. The largest Sand Pine concentration is a block of the Ocala variety covering about 101 170 ha (250,000 acres) in north-central Florida, an area often referred to as the "Big Scrub." This variety of Sand Pine also grows in a narrow strip along the east coast of Florida from St. Augustine southward to Fort Lauderdale. On the Gulf Coast small tracts of Ocala Sand Pine can be found scattered from a few kilometers north of Tampa southward to Naples. The less abundant Choctawhatchee variety is found growing along the coast in western Florida from Apalachicola to Pensacola and extending westward into Baldwin County, Alabama. Natural stands of Choctawhatchee Sand Pine are most abundant in Okaloosa and Walton Counties, Florida covering an area of about 40 470 ha (100,000 acres). Scattered stands of this variety of Sand Pine can be found 32 to 40 km (20 to 25 mi) inland from the coast in this section of Florida. Sparse stands of Sand Pine are also found on many of Florida's offshore islands. (Silvics of North America. 1990. Agriculture Handbook 654.)

Habitat: Found in sandy or other very well drained soils.