eastern white pine Pinaceae Pinus
strobus L.
symbol: PIST
Leaf: Evergreen needles, 3 to 5 inches long, with five, slender, flexible needles per fascicle; fascicle sheath deciduous, needles appear blue-green because of 3 or more glaucous lines of stomata.
Flower: Species is monoecious; males cylindrical, yellow, in clusters near branch tips; females light green, tinged in red, at ends of branches.
Fruit: Cones are 4 to 7 inches long, cylindrical, with thick, rounded cone scales, very resinous, borne on a long stalk and maturing in late summer.
Twig: Slender, gray-green to orange-brown in color; buds long, ovoid, reddish brown.
Bark: On young trees, thin, smooth and gray-green with some lighter splotty patches; later becoming thick, reddish brown to gray-brown with prominent finely scaly, rounded, long ridges and darker furrows.
Form: A large tree with a very straight trunk often reaching well over 100 feet in height. The crown is conical when young, later developing wispy, horizontal, upturning branches.
Looks like: Himalaya pine
- western white pine