Virginia pine Pinaceae Pinus virginiana Mill. symbol: PIVI2 Leaf: Evergreen needles, 1 1/2 to 3 inches long, with 2 yellow-green, twisted, somewhat divergent needles per fascicle. Flower: Species is monoecious; males cylindrical, yellow, near branch tip; females yellow to red, curved prickle present. Fruit: Conical to ovoid cones are 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 inches long, sessile and persistent, with red-brown scales and an umbo armed with a sharp, needle-like prickle, maturing in the fall. Twig: Slender, green changing to purple-green with a glaucous bloom; buds gray-brown, narrowly ovoid. Bark: Orange-brown and scaly on young trees; older stems develop thin, small, scaly plates, cinnamon colored patches often on upper parts of trunk. Form: A small to medium sized tree reaching up to 70 feet tall, eventually develops a flat top sparse crown; dead, gray (sharply angled upwards) branch stubs are almost always present along the trunk. Looks like: Table Mountain pine - shortleaf pine - jack pine - Scots pine Additional Range Information: Pinus virginiana is native to North America. Range may be expanded by planting. See states reporting Virginia pine. More: Wood External Links: USDAFS Silvics of North America USDAFS Additional Silvics Landowner Factsheet USDA Plants Database Horticulture © Copyright 2015, Virginia Tech Dept. of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation, all rights reserved. Photos and text by: John Seiler, Edward Jensen, Alex Niemiera, and John Peterson