Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center


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Northeast Wetland Flora

Field Office Guide to Plant Species

Pitch Pine
Pinus rigida Mill.

JPG -- Species Photo JPG -- Distribution Map

Family: Pine (Pinaceae)
Fruits: Autumn
Field Marks: The distingishing features of this pine are the spine-tipped scales of the female cones and the stiff needles in clusters of 3's and up to 8 inches long.
Habitat: Usually dry, often barren soil, abandoned fields.
Habit: Tree to 90 feet tall, with a trunk diameter up to 3 feet in diameter; bark red-brown to dark brown, scaly at first, becoming deeply fissured into elongated plates.
Twigs: Brown, finely hairy when young, becoming smooth at maturity, the lower ones often drooping; buds ovoid, brown.
Leaves: Needles in clusters of 3's, stiff, twisted, tapering to a sharp point, yellow-green or sometimes glaucous, up to 8 inches long.
Reproductive Structures: Male cones crowded into several clusters, yellowish, up to 2 1/4 inches long; female cones yellow at first, soon becoming darker.
Fruits: Cones woody, oblongoid to ovoid, up to 6 inches long, the scales ending in a sharp spine; seeds brown with blackish mottling, up to 1/3 inch long, with wings about 2-3 times as long.
Notes: The wood is used for pulp and in general construction. The cones persist on the tree for about one year after shedding their seeds.

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Page Last Modified: Thursday, 03-Aug-2006 11:39:25 EDT
Menlo Park, CA [caww55]