Pinus strobus

Pinus strobus, commonly denominated the eastern white pine, northern white pine, white pine, Weymouth pine (British), and soft pine is a large pine native to eastern North America. It occurs from Newfoundland, Canada west through the Great Lakes region to southeastern Manitoba and Minnesota, United States, and south along the Appalachian Mountains and upper Piedmont to northernmost Georgia and perhaps very rarely in some of the higher elevations in northeastern Alabama. It is considered rare in Indiana.

It was called the “Tree of Peace” by Native American Haudenosaunee. It is known as the “Weymouth pine” in the United Kingdom, after Captain George Weymouth of the British Royal Navy, who brought its seeds to England from Maine in 1605.

Description

Like most members of the white pine group, Pinus subgenus Strobus, the leaves (“needles”) are coniferous, occurring in fascicles (bundles) of 5, or rarely 3 or 4, with a deciduous sheath. The leaves are flexible, bluish-green, finely serrated, and 5-13 cm (2-5 in) long. The fascicle sheaths persist for 18 months, i.e., from the spring of one season until autumn of the next, when they abscise.

The seed cones are slender,

8-16 cm (3+1/4–6+1/4 in) long (rarely longer than that) and 4-5 cm (1+1/2-2 in) broad when open, and have scales with a rounded apex and slightly reflexed tip, often resinous. The seeds are 4-5 mm (5/32–3/16 in) long, with a slender 15-20 mm (5/8–3/4 in) wing, and are dispersed by wind. Cone production peaks every 3 to 5 years.

The trunk has branches spaced every 18 inches. 5-6 branches appear like spokes on wheels.

Although Eastern white pine is self-fertile but the seeds are often weak and stunted this way, they can still produce strong, healthy seedlings.

Most mature trees live between 200 and 250 years, while some can last for more than 400 years. In the 1980s, a tree near Syracuse, New York was found to be 458 years old. Trees in Michigan and Wisconsin were also found to have a similar age.

Dimensions

The eastern white pine has the distinction of being the tallest tree in eastern North America. In natural pre-colonial stands it is reported to have grown as tall as 70 m (230 ft). It is impossible to accurately record the height of these trees, but it is possible that eastern white pine reached this height in rare instances. Even greater heights have been reported in popular, but unverifiable, accounts such as Robert Pike’s “Tall Trees, Tough Men”.

Total trunk volumes of the largest specimens are approximately 28 m³ (990 cu ft), with some past giants possibly reaching 37 or 40 m³ (1,300 or 1,400 cu ft). The total trunk volumes of giants are closer to 34 m ³ (1200 cu ft).

Height

Pinus strobus grows approximately 1 m (3.3 ft) annually between the ages of 15 and 45 years, with slower height increments before and after that age range. The tallest presently living specimens are 50-57.55 m (164 ft 1 in-188 ft 10 in) tall, as determined by the Native Tree Society (NTS). Prior to their exploitation, it was common for white pines in northern Wisconsin to reach heights of over 200 ft (61 m). Three locations in southeastern United States and one site in northeastern United States have trees that are 55 m (180 ft) tall.

The southern Appalachian Mountains have the most locations and the tallest trees in the present range of Pinus strobus. One survivor is a specimen known as the “Boogerman Pine” in the Cataloochee Valley of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It stands at 57.55m (188 feet 10 inches) high and is the highest accurately measured tree in North America, east of the Rocky Mountains. It has been climbed and measured by tape drop by the Native Tree Society. Boogerman pine was 63m tall (207 ft) before Hurricane Opal destroyed its top in October 1995. This was determined by Robert Leverett and Will Blozan using ground-based measurements.

The tallest specimens in Hartwick Pines State Park in Michigan are 45-48 m (148-157 ft) tall.

According to the Native Tree Society, there are currently 8 locations in northeastern USA with trees that exceed 48 m (157 feet) tall. With 110 trees at that height and more, the Cook Forest State Park in Pennsylvania is home to the Northeast’s largest collection of 45m (148ft) eastern White Pines. The Park’s “Longfellow Pine” is the tallest presently living eastern white pine in the Northeast, at 55.96 m (183 ft 7 in) tall, as determined by being climbed and measured by tape drop. The Mohawk Trail State Forest in Massachusetts contains 83 trees that are 45 m or more high, 6 exceeding 48.8m (160ft). The “Jake Swamp Tree” located there is 51.54 m (169 ft 1 in) tall. The Native Tree Society maintains precise measurements of it. A private property in Claremont, New Hampshire has approximately 60 specimens that are 45 m (148 ft) tall.^{[citation needed]}

Diameter

Diameters of the larger pines range from 1.0-1.6 m (3 ft 3 in-5 ft 3 in), which translates to a circumference (girth) range of 3.1-5.0 m (10 ft 2 in-16 ft 5 in). However, single-trunked white pines in both the Northeast and Southeast with diameters over 1.45 m (4 ft 9 in) are exceedingly rare. Notable big pine sites of 40 ha (99 acres) or less will often have no more than 2 or 3 trees in the 1.2 to 1.4 m (3 ft 11 in to 4 ft 7 in) diameter class.

Unconfirmed reports from the colonial era gave diameters of virgin white pines of up to 2.4 m (8 ft).

Distribution

Pinus strobus is found in the nearctic temperate broadleaf and mixed forests biome of eastern North America. It prefers well-drained or sandy soils and humid climates, but can also grow in boggy areas and rocky highlands. In mixed forests, this dominant tree towers over many others, including some of the large broadleaf hardwoods. It provides food and shelter for numerous forest birds, such as the red crossbill, and small mammals such as squirrels.

Dr. Brian Axsmith, a paleobotanist from the University of South Alabama in the Gulf Coastal Plain discovered fossilized white pine leaves, and pollen. The tree is no longer found there.

Eastern white pine forests originally covered much of north-central and north-eastern North America. Only one percent of the old-growth forests remain after the extensive logging operations of the 18th century to early 20th century.

Old growth forests, or virgin stands, are protected in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. According to the Eastern Native Tree Society (ETS), there are other protected areas that have known virgin forests. These include Algonquin Provincial Park and Quetico Provincial Park and Algoma Highlands in Ontario and Sainte-Marguerite River Old Forest, Quebec, Canada. Hartwick Pines State Park is in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan. Menominee Indian Reservation is in Wisconsin.

You can find small groves and individual specimens of old-growth eastern white pines all over the USA, including in Ordway Pines (Maine), Ice Glen (Massachusetts), and Adirondack Park (New York). Many sites with conspicuously large specimens represent advanced old field ecological succession. The tall stands in Mohawk Trail State Forest and William Cullen Bryant Homestead in Massachusetts are examples.

As an introduced species, Pinus strobus is now naturalizing in the Outer Western Carpathians subdivision of the Carpathian Mountains in Czech Republic and southern Poland. It has spread from specimens planted as ornamental trees.