Pinus echinata

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Shortleaf pine
Shortleaf pine.jpg
Shortleaf pine savanna
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Gymnospermae
Division: Pinophyta
Class: Pinopsida
Order: Pinales
Family: Pinaceae
Genus: Pinus
Subgenus: P. subg. Pinus
Section: P. sect. Trifoliae
Subsection: P. subsect. Australes
Species:
P. echinata
Binomial name
Pinus echinata
Pinus echinata range map.png
Natural range

The shortleaf pine or Pinus echinata is a species of coniferous tree endemic to the United States. [1] The shortleaf pine is sometimes referred to as the "old field", "spruce", "rosemary", "yellow", "two-leaf" and "heart" pine. The common name "shortleaf pine" may refer to other species like loblolly pine (Pinus taeda), based on a custom in the Southeastern United States to only refer to pines as either "long-leaf" or "short-leaf". However, P. echinata can be distinguished from other pines by examining its short leaves and small cones. [2]

Contents

Description

The tree is variable in form, sometimes straight, sometimes crooked, with an irregular crown. The tree reaches heights of 80–100 feet. In areas that have optimal growing conditions, the height reached is between 24–27 m (100 to 120 ft). The trunk diameter ranges between 0.5–0.9 m (1+1⁄2–3 ft) and averages between 0.6–0.9m (two to three ft). [2]

The leaves are needle-like, in fascicles (bundles) of two and three mixed together, and from 7–11 centimetres (2+3⁄4–4+1⁄4 inches) long. The cones are 4–7 cm (1+1⁄2–2+3⁄4 in) long, with thin scales with a transverse keel and a short prickle. They open at maturity but are persistent. [3] Shortleaf pine seedlings develop a persistent J-shaped crook near the ground surface. [4] Axillary and other buds form near the crook and initiate growth if the upper stem is killed by fire or is severed. [5]

The bark has resin pockets (sometimes called pitch patches), which form small depressions, less than 1 millimetre (1⁄32 in) in diameter. This feature can be used to distinguish P. echinata from all other Pinus species within its native range. [6] For example, the bark of a loblolly tree is slightly darker, thicker, and more furrowed and rigged in comparison to the shortleaf pine at the beginning of its lifespan, but when it starts maturing these differences fade; however, the resin pockets are still visible on shortleaf pine and can used for identification. [2]

The crown is a pyramidal head that contains several small branches. It does not change much throughout the tree's lifetime. [2]

The tree has very strong roots, and thus it is able to withstand high winds; additionally, the tree can survive in very dry conditions. The roots are able to reach great depths to search for water. It is believed the roots are this long due to the wide range of the species that consequently experiences varying climate. [2]

Shortleaf pine can be found in a variety of soils including, stiff clay, gravel, and sand. Although the species is not soil-specific, they do not thrive in wet or very poorly drained conditions. [2]

Taxonomy

The shortleaf pine is in the Pinus subgenus. The epithet of echinata means "spiny" and refers to "hedgehog", from echinus. It naturally hybridizes with Pinus taeda; the hybrid typically has a closer resemblance to P. echinata. [7] It was named by Phillip Miller, and the date of publication was April 16, 1768. [8]

Distribution and habitat

Shortleaf pine has the largest range of the southern US yellow pines. It is found from southernmost New York, south to northern Florida, west to eastern Texas and Oklahoma. [9] This pine occupies a variety of habitats from rocky uplands to wet flood plains.

Since the shortleaf pine has such a large range, it can use many different soils. Most shortleaf pines grow in soils that have low organic matter in subsurface horizons and are relatively moist. [10] The shortleaf pine grows in altitudes of up to 3,000 feet in the Southern Appalachians. [2]

There are 85 different forest types that the shortleaf pine is a component, spanning 22 states in the U.S. Generally speaking, the volume of shortleaf pines has decreased over time across the U.S. [11]

Ecology

The shortleaf pine occurs in various habitats such as hardwood forests and open woodlands. The soils, geology, hydrology, and interaction with fire all influence the community structure of the species. It is able to grow in several different hydrological gradients, including sand hills, sandstone hills, and slopes. It occurs in rolling uplands and mesic lowlands. It also occurs in several different forest types; these forest types depend on the classification scheme. According to the Society of American Foresters, the shortleaf pine is found in eighteen different forest cover types and sixty NatureServe plant communities. [12]

Fire plays a key role in shortleaf pines ecology, fire influences their maintenance, structure, composition, regeneration, and establishment. Fire reduces competition with different tree species which increases shortleaf pine survival, and it also prepares the soil for regeneration. Shortleaf pine typically respond well to prescribed fire. [12] With frequent fire, the species can occur in savanna environments, with a very diverse understory and prime habitat for the red-cockaded woodpecker. [13]

The tree frequently hybridizes naturally with loblolly pine and pitch pine where their ranges intersect. Hybridization with loblolly pine has become increasingly frequent in recent decades and results in hybrids with lower fire tolerance. [5]

Uses

Shortleaf pine is a source of wood pulp, plywood veneer, and lumber for a variety of uses. The shortleaf pine is one of the southern US "southern yellow pines"; it is also occasionally called southern yellow pine or the shortstraw pine. The wood from the shortleaf pine is used commercially for creating flooring and beams. In the past, it was used in building ship masts, and during the Revolutionary War and into the 1800's, it was a major timber source for homes. [14] The shortleaf pine is famous for lightwood, also known as fat wood: a resinous wood that is well known for lighting fires. A strong fire with this wood only requires a kitchen match. [15]

The turpentine that is found in the resin of the tree can be used for treatment of the kidney and bladder. It can be used for treating rheumatic infections as a rub or steam bath; it can also be used internally. It has proven useful for treating respiratory illnesses, such as influenza, coughs, colds, and TB. It can also be used dermally for burns, sores, wounds, and boils. [16]

Conservation

There has been a 53% decline of the shortleaf pine since 1980 due to a lack of disturbance required for regeneration of the species, and impacts of farming and extensive logging. Fire exclusion, land conversion, and land development have negative impacts on shortleaf pine. [17]

The Shortleaf Pine Initiative (SPI) was launched in the spring of 2013 to help combat this issue. SPI is composed of state and federal agencies, as well as public and private organizations. There was a range-wide conservation plan released in June 2016 that aimed to increase coordination with shortleaf proponents and maximize current conservation strategies to optimize restoration strategies. This plan has a primary focus on restoring woodlands that were either dominated or co-dominated by shortleaf pines in the past. It is intended to be utilized by natural resource managers, wildlife and conservation biologists, and foresters, as well as policymakers and landowners. [18]

According to NatureServe, the Pinus echinata conservation status is "critically imperiled" in New York, Pennsylvania, and Illinois. Conversely, it is "secure" in North Carolina and Virginia. [19]

Genetics

The shortleaf pine is a diploid organism that has twelve pairs of chromosomes. The genome of the shortleaf is comparatively similar to that of other pine species. The C value of the shortleaf pine, or the amount of DNA of a species chromosome, is 21.73 pg when measured utilizing laser flow cytometry. [17]

The genome of the shortleaf pine is not sequenced; however, loblolly pine genomic information can be used in comparative genetic studies regarding the shortleaf pine. [17]

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) launched a genetic improvement program in the 1960s that aimed to increase the genetic diversity of the species, which is crucial for effective restoration of the species, by breeding trees and conducting progeny tests. This program posed inadvertent effects, as it opened the opportunity of crossbreeding with the loblolly pine. Fast growth is a desirable trait among trees, and this is usually a characteristic of hybrid trees; in turn, breeders are inclined to select these traits. Shortleaf pine orchards are also often adjacent to loblolly pine orchards, which could cause hybrid breeding to occur as well. [17]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pine</span> Genus of plants in the conifer family Pinaceae

A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus Pinus of the family Pinaceae. Pinus is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae.

<i>Pinus taeda</i> Species of conifer

Pinus taeda, commonly known as loblolly pine, is one of several pines native to the Southeastern United States, from East Texas to Florida, and north to southern New Jersey. The wood industry classifies the species as a southern yellow pine. U.S. Forest Service surveys found that loblolly pine is the second-most common species of tree in the United States, after red maple. For its timber, the pine species is regarded as the most commercially important tree in the Southeastern U.S. The common name loblolly is given because the pine species is found mostly in lowlands and swampy areas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Longleaf pine</span> Species of plant (tree)

The longleaf pine is a pine species native to the Southeastern United States, found along the coastal plain from East Texas to southern Virginia, extending into northern and central Florida. In this area it is also known as "yellow pine" or "long leaf yellow pine", although it is properly just one out of a number of species termed yellow pine. It reaches a height of 30–35 m (98–115 ft) and a diameter of 0.7 m (28 in). In the past, before extensive logging, they reportedly grew to 47 m (154 ft) with a diameter of 1.2 m (47 in). The tree is a cultural symbol of the Southern United States, being the official state tree of Alabama. This particular species is one of the eight pine tree species that falls under the "Pine" designation as the state tree of North Carolina.

<i>Pinus jeffreyi</i> Pine tree found in North America

Pinus jeffreyi, also known as Jeffrey pine, Jeffrey's pine, yellow pine and black pine, is a North American pine tree. It is mainly found in California, but also in the westernmost part of Nevada, southwestern Oregon, and northern Baja California. It is named in honor of its botanist documenter John Jeffrey.

<i>Pinus rigida</i> Species of pine tree

Pinus rigida, the pitch pine, is a small-to-medium-sized pine. It is native to eastern North America, primarily from central Maine south to Georgia and as far west as Kentucky. It is found in environments which other species would find unsuitable for growth, such as acidic, sandy, and low-nutrient soils.

<i>Pinus serotina</i> Species of conifer

Pinus serotina, the pond pine, black bark pine, bay pine,marsh pine, or pocosin pine, is a pine tree found along the Southeastern portion of the Atlantic coastal plain of the United States, from southern New Jersey south to Florida and west to southern Alabama. Pond pine distribution may be starting to spread west towards Mississippi and Tennessee.

<i>Pinus elliottii</i> Species of conifer tree

Pinus elliottii, commonly known as slash pine, is a conifer tree native to the Southeastern United States. Slash pine is named after the "slashes" – swampy ground overgrown with trees and bushes – that constitute its habitat. Other common names include swamp pine, yellow slash pine, and southern Florida pine. Slash pine has two different varieties: P. e. var. elliottii and P. e. var. densa. Historically, slash pine has been an important economic timber for naval stores, turpentine, and resin. The wood of slash pine is known for its unusually high strength, especially for a pine. It exceeds many hardwoods and is even comparable to very dense woods such as black ironwood.

<i>Pinus ponderosa</i> Species of large pine tree in North America

Pinus ponderosa, commonly known as the ponderosa pine, bull pine, blackjack pine, western yellow-pine, or filipinus pine, is a very large pine tree species of variable habitat native to mountainous regions of western North America. It is the most widely distributed pine species in North America.

Yellow pine is a number of conifer species which yield similar strong wood.

<i>Pinus pinaster</i> Species of plant

Pinus pinaster, the maritime pine or cluster pine, is a pine native to the south Atlantic Europe region and parts of the western Mediterranean. It is a hard, fast growing pine bearing small seeds with large wings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Atlantic coastal pine barrens</span> Temperate coniferous forest ecoregion of Northeast United States

The Atlantic coastal pine barrens is a now rare temperate coniferous forest ecoregion of the Northeast United States distinguished by unique species and topographical features, generally nutrient-poor, often acidic soils and a pine tree distribution once controlled by frequent fires.

Resin acid refers to mixtures of several related carboxylic acids, primarily abietic acid, found in tree resins. Nearly all resin acids have the same basic skeleton: three fused rings having the empirical formula C19H29COOH. Resin acids are tacky, yellowish gums that are water-insoluble. They are used to produce soaps for diverse applications, but their use is being displaced increasingly by synthetic acids such as 2-ethylhexanoic acid or petroleum-derived naphthenic acids.

<i>Gordonia lasianthus</i> Species of tree

Gordonia lasianthus is a small to medium-sized evergreen tree or shrub found in acidic, swampy soils of pinelands and bays on the Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plains of the southeastern United States. It is a member of the tea or family Theaceae. It is slow growing with soft, light-colored, fine-grained wood of little commercial value, although loblolly-bay could be managed as a source of pulpwood. When older specimens are cut, the wood exudes a strong scent. It is similar to a mixture of fresh oranges and pine sap. The bark of the adult tree varies from medium grey to a red brown coloration. Dead adult specimens of loblolly bay exhibit a lustrous shine when exposed to sunlight for several years. The white showy flowers and shiny foliage make it a desirable ornamental, but it is not easy to cultivate. Deer browse stump sprouts heavily.

<i>Carya glabra</i> Species of tree

Carya glabra, the pignut hickory, is a common, but not abundant species of hickory in the oak-hickory forest association in the Eastern United States and Canada. Other common names are pignut, sweet pignut, coast pignut hickory, smoothbark hickory, swamp hickory, and broom hickory. The pear-shaped nut ripens in September and October, has a sweet maple like smell, and is an important part of the diet of many wild animals. The wood is used for a variety of products, including fuel for home heating. Its leaves turn yellow in the Fall.

<i>Carya tomentosa</i> Species of hickory tree

Carya tomentosa, commonly known as mockernut hickory, mockernut, white hickory, whiteheart hickory, hognut, bullnut, is a species of tree in the walnut family Juglandaceae. The most abundant of the hickories, and common in the eastern half of the United States, it is long lived, sometimes reaching the age of 500 years. A straight-growing hickory, a high percentage of its wood is used for products where strength, hardness, and flexibility are needed. The wood makes excellent fuel wood, as well. The leaves turn yellow in Autumn.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Middle Atlantic coastal forests</span> Temperate coniferous forests ecoregion of the United States

The Middle Atlantic coastal forests are a temperate coniferous forest mixed with patches of evergreen broadleaved forests along the coast of the southeastern United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southeastern conifer forests</span> Temperate coniferous forests ecoregion of the United States

The Southeastern conifer forests are a temperate coniferous forest ecoregion of the southeastern United States. It is the largest conifer forest ecoregion east of the Mississippi River. It is also the southernmost instance of temperate coniferous forest within the Nearctic realm.

Bull pine is a common name for several species of North American “yellow pine” trees — Genus Pinus, Section Trifoliae — especially large, or unusually large and isolated, specimens of the following.

Both naturally and artificially occurring pine species (Pinus) can hybridize, combining their genetic material and sometimes creating hybrids that can be more or less vigorous than their parent species. An example of a naturally occurring hybrid pine is Pinus × sondereggeri, a naturally occurring cross between loblolly pine and longleaf pine. An example of the many artificial hybrids is Pinus lambertiana × P. armandii.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harrison Experimental Forest</span> Mississippi experimental forest facility

Harrison Experimental Forest is an experimental forest facility operated by the Southern Research Station (SRS) of the United States Forest Service in Harrison County, Mississippi. The experimental forest is located within the De Soto National Forest about 25 mi (40 km) north of Gulfport, Mississippi off Old Mississippi Highway 67.

References

  1. 1 2 Farjon, A. (2013). "Pinus echinata". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2013: e.T42359A2974993. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T42359A2974993.en . Retrieved 1 March 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Mattoon, Wilbur R. (1915). Life history of shortleaf pine. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Dept. of Agriculture. doi: 10.5962/bhl.title.108486 – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
  3. ↑ Kral, Robert (1993). "Pinus echinata". In Flora of North America Editorial Committee (ed.). Flora of North America North of Mexico (FNA). Vol. 2. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press – via eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA.
  4. ↑ Lawson, Edwin R. (1990). "Pinus echinata". In Burns, Russell M.; Honkala, Barbara H. (eds.). Conifers. Silvics of North America. Vol. 1. Washington, D.C.: United States Forest Service (USFS), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) – via Southern Research Station.
  5. 1 2 Tauer, Charles G.; Stewart, John F.; Will, Rodney E.; Lilly, Curtis J.; Guldin, James M.; Nelson, C. Dana (2012-06-01). "Hybridization Leads to Loss of Genetic Integrity in Shortleaf Pine: Unexpected Consequences of Pine Management and Fire Suppression". Journal of Forestry. 110 (4): 216–224. doi: 10.5849/jof.11-044 . ISSN   0022-1201.
  6. ↑ "Silvics of Shortleaf Pine" (PDF). North Carolina Forest Service. January 2016. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2016-12-24. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
  7. ↑ "Pinus echinata (shortleaf pine) description - The Gymnosperm Database". www.conifers.org. Retrieved 2023-11-06.
  8. ↑ "Pinus echinata | International Plant Names Index". ipni.org. Retrieved 2023-12-03.
  9. ↑ "Plants Profile for Pinus echinata (shortleaf pine)". plants.sc.egov.usda.gov. Retrieved 2020-09-30.
  10. ↑ Service and support : the 1963 yearbook / U.S. Department of Agriculture, Intermountain Region, Forest Service. Ogden, Utah: U.S. Dept. of Agriculture. 1964.
  11. ↑ Bradley, J.C.; Will, R.E.; Stewart, J.F.; Nelson, C.D.; Guldin, J.M. (November 2016). "Post-fire resprouting of shortleaf pine is facilitated by a morphological trait but fire eliminates shortleaf × loblolly pine hybrid seedlings". Forest Ecology and Management. 379: 146–152. doi: 10.1016/j.foreco.2016.08.016 . ISSN   0378-1127.
  12. 1 2 "Ecological and Social History of Shortleaf Pine — The Shortleaf Pine Initiative". shortleafpine.org. Retrieved 2023-11-06.
  13. ↑ Hedrick, Larry D.; Bukenhofer, George A.; Montague, Warren G.; Pell, William F.; Guldin, James M. (2007). "Shortleaf pine-bluestem restoration in the Ouachita National Forest". In: Shortleaf Pine Restoration and Ecology in the Ozarks: Proceedings of a Symposium: 206-213.
  14. ↑ "Shortleaf Pine Restoration Plan — The Shortleaf Pine Initiative". shortleafpine.org. Retrieved 2023-11-06.
  15. ↑ Jenkins, Patty. "Shortleaf Pine - TreeInspection.com". treeinspection.com. Retrieved 2023-11-06.
  16. ↑ "medicinal herbs: SHORT-LEAF PINE - Pinus echinata". www.naturalmedicinalherbs.net. Retrieved 2023-11-06.
  17. 1 2 3 4 Stewart, John F.; Will, Rodney E.; Crane, Barbara S.; Nelson, C. Dana (October 2016). "The genetics of shortleaf pine (Pinus echinata mill.) with implications for restoration and management". Tree Genetics & Genomes. 12 (5). doi:10.1007/s11295-016-1052-5. ISSN   1614-2942.
  18. ↑ "The Shortleaf Pine Initiative". shortleafpine.org. Retrieved 2023-11-06.
  19. ↑ "NatureServe Explorer 2.0". explorer.natureserve.org. Retrieved 2023-12-03.
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