Shortleaf Pine

(Pinus echinata)

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Shortleaf Pine (Pinus echinata)

Identifying Characters: Shortleaf Pine can usually be identified through a combination of its southeastern U.S. distribution, the stalked cones, and the needles in bundles between 3 and 5 inches in length.

Similar Species: The short stalked cones and the longer needles will separate this species from other southern pines with needles in bundles of two such as Spruce Pine, Virginia Pine, and Table Mountain Pine. The needles of Longleaf Pine are longer (8 to 10 inches) than those of Shortleaf Pine (3 to 5 inches).

Measurements: Old individuals reach 100 feet in height and 24 to 36 inches in diameter. Most individuals, however, are considerably smaller.

Cones: Cones ovate and slightly elongate, borne on a short stalk, and generally occurring in clusters; cones about 1.5 to 2.5 inches long; cone scales nearly flat below and tipped with a small, straight or slightly curved apical spine.

Needles: Needles occurs in bundles of 2 or 3, although bundles of 2 seem to predominate; needles slender, flexible, dark blue-green to yellow-green and 3 to 5 inches in length; sheaths not shed after the first year.

Bark: Bark dark brown to gray-brown occurring in irregular scales.

Native Range: Shortleaf Pine has the widest range of any pine in the southeastern United States. It grows in 22 States over more than 1 139 600 km² (440,000 mi²), from southeastern New York and New Jersey west to Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, Kentucky, southwestern Illinois, and southern Missouri; south to eastern Oklahoma and eastern Texas; and east to northern Florida and northeast through the Atlantic Coast States to Delaware. (Silvics of North America. 1990. Agriculture Handbook 654.)

Habitat: Shortleaf Pine is most common on dry, light soils. However the species occurs in a wide variety of habitats in the southeastern United States.