White Pine

Pinus strobus, commonly known as the eastern white pine, white pine, northern white pine, Weymouth pine, and soft pine[1] is a large pine native to eastern North America. It occurs from Newfoundland west through the Great Lakes region to southeastern Manitoba and Minnesota, and south along the Mississippi Basin and Appalachian Mountains to northernmost Georgia and Mississippi.[2]

This tree is known to the Native American Haudenosaunee (Iroquois nation) as the Tree of Peace. It is known as the Weymouth pine in the United Kingdom,[3] after George Weymouth who brought it to England in 1620.

Like all members of the white pine group, Pinus subgenus Strobus, the leaves ('needles') are in fascicles (bundles) of five (rarely 3 or 4), with a deciduous sheath. They are flexible, bluish-green, finely serrated, and 5–13 cm (2.0–5.1 in) long, and persist for 18 months, i.e. from the spring of one season to the autumn of the next, when they are shed by abscission.

The cones are slender, 8–16 cm (3.1–6.3 in) long (rarely longer than that) and 4–5 cm (1.6–2.0 in) broad when open, and have scales with a rounded apex and slightly reflexed tip. The seeds are 4–5 mm (0.16–0.20 in) long, with a slender 15–20 mm (0.59–0.79 in) wing, and are wind-dispersed. Cone production peaks every 3 to 5 years.

Mature trees can easily be 200 to 250 years old. Some white pines live over 400 years. A tree growing near Syracuse, New York was dated to 458 years in the late 1980s and trees in both Wisconsin and Michigan have approached 500 years in age.

Height[edit]

Pinus strobus grows approximately 1 m (3.3 ft) per year between the ages of 15 and 45 years, with slower height increments before and after that age range.[4] The current tallest eastern white pines reach between 50–57.55 m (164.0–188.8 ft), as determined by the NTS—Native Tree Society.[5] Three locations in the Southeastern United States and one site in theNortheastern United States have been identified with trees reaching 55 m (180 ft) tall.

The southern Appalachians have the most locations and the tallest trees in the present day range of Pinus strobus. One survivor is a specimen known as the "Boogerman Pine" in the Cataloochee Valley, of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. At 57.55 m (188.8 ft) tall, it is the tallest accurately measured tree in North America east of the Rocky Mountains. It has been climbed and measured by tape drop by the NTS. Before it lost its top in Hurricane Opal in October 1995, the Boogerman Pine was 63 m (207 ft) tall, as determined by Will Blozan and Robert Leverett using ground-based measurement methods.

The tallest eastern white pines in Hartwick Pines State Park of northern Michigan reach 45–48 m (148–157 ft) in height.

In the Northeasern U.S., 8 sites in four states currently have trees over 48 m (157 ft) in height, as confirmed by NTS. The Cook Forest State Park of Pennsylvania has the largest collection of 45 m (148 ft) eastern white pines in the Northeast, with 110 trees measuring that height or more. The park's "Longfellow Pine" is the tallest eastern white pine in the Northeast currently. It has a height of 55.96 m (183.6 ft), determined by being climbed and measured by tape drop.[6]

The Mohawk Trail State Forest of Massachusetts has 83 trees reaching 45 m (148 ft) in height or more, of which six exceed 48.8 m (160 ft). This is the largest collection of 45 m (148 ft) tall eastern white pines in New England. The "Jake Swamp Tree" located here is 51.54 m (169.1 ft) tall.[7] It is the tallest accurately measured tree of any species within New England.[8] Precise measurements are maintained on this tree by NTS.

A private property in Claremont, New Hampshire has about sixty white pines in the 45 m (148 ft) height range.[citation needed] Beyond the above locations, sites with 45 m (148 ft) specimens typically have from one to fifteen trees, with most sites having less than ten trees.[citation needed]