FAMILY: PINACEAE
ALTERNATE COMMON NAME:
LEAVES: dark glossy green, straight, persistent 2-3 seasons, somewhat tufted towards ends of twigs, 4-10" long, 2 or 3 needles per fascicle (usually both represented on a given sample branch)
SEED CONES: cones to ca. 6" long, stalked; apophysis reddish brown and waxy, umbo dorsal with a short spine, not as prickly as loblolly pine (Pinus taeda)
TWIGS: thicker than loblolly pine, thinner than longleaf pine; bark of twigs from which needles have been shed are roughened by persistent scale leaves; buds reddish brown with white cilia
BARK: coarsely platy on older trees with outer layers sloughing to expose orange inner bark (the orange inner bark is particularly conspicuous following a burn, standing out against charred portions)
FORM: medium to large tree
HABITAT: naturally relegated by frequent fire to baygalls and very wet flatwoods supporting pondcypress (Taxodium ascendens); with fire exclusion, slash pine readily expands onto higher sites, at the expense of longleaf pine (Pinus palustris); also, slash pine has been planted for timber on various sites, including well outside its natural range
WETLAND DESIGNATION: Facultative Wetland (FACW): Usually occurs in wetlands, but may occur in non-wetlands of the Atlantic and Gulf Coast Plain Region
RANGE: East Gulf Coastal Plain and Atlantic Coastal Plain in FL, GA, SC; not native west of the Mississippi River, where it has been planted for timber [USGS Range Map] [US County Range Map]
Note that on the county distribution map, Texas counties of occurrence are mis-symbolized – rather than yellow, which indicates slash pine is rare in Texas, counties should be teal-green as in Oklahoma indicating the species is adventive there
USES: important pulp and timber producer; naval stores (turpentine production)
WILDLIFE: doves, quail, turkeys eat pine seeds, along with many song birds and squirrels; young foliage is browsed by whitetail deer
Best Recognition Features:
- orange platy inner bark
- needles in regularly occurring 2’s and 3’s
- cones reddish-brown and waxy, lightly armed, stalked
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