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Red Pine (Pinus resinosa) |
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Red Pine (Pinus resinosa) Identifying Characters: Within its range Red Pine is easily identified by the long, flexible needles in bundles of 2. Similar Species: Red Pine overlaps the ranges of two other hard pines; Pitch Pine and Jack Pine. The needle bundles of Pitch Pine contain 3 needles, not 2 as in Red Pine. The needles of Red Pine are much longer (5 to 6 inches versus 1 to 1.5 inches) and much more slender and flexible than those of Jack Pine. The soft pine White Pine contains 5 needles per bundle. Measurements: Mature trees are 70 to 80 feet tall with a few individuals reaching as high as 120 feet. The diameter of the trunk at breast height is 2 to 3 feet. Cones: Cones ovate and conical, 2 to 2.5 inches long; cones sessile on the branch; cone scales relatively thin and concave and lacking an apical spine. Needles: Needles soft and flexible, 5 to 6 inches long; color dark green and shiney; needles in bundles of 2 and bundle sheath not shed after the first year. Bark: Bark of young trees brown-gray and consisting of loose scales; bark of mature trees consisting of roughly diamond shaped scaly plates. Native Range: Red Pine is confined to the Northern Forest region and the southern fringe of the Boreal Forest region. It grows in a narrow zone about 2400 km (1,500 mi) long and 800 km (500 mi) wide around the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River, most of it within or closely adjacent to the area glaciated during the late Pleistocene. Its range extends from Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, southern Quebec, and Maine, westward to central Ontario and southeastern Manitoba, southward to southeastern Minnesota and eastward to Wisconsin, Michigan, southern Ontario, northern Pennsylvania, northern New Jersey, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. It also grows locally in northern Illinois, eastern West Virginia, and Newfoundland. (Silvics of North America. 1990. Agriculture Handbook 654.) Habitat: Red Pine is most typical of sandy soils or dry rocky ridges. The trees typically form small groves of trees.
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