loblolly pine Pinaceae Pinus taeda L. symbol: PITA Leaf: Evergreen needles, 6 to 9 inches long, with (usually) three yellow-green needles per fascicle. Flower: Species is monoecious; males long cylindrical, red to yellow, in clusters at branch tips; females yellow to purple. Fruit: Ovoid to cylindrical, 3 to 6 inch red-brown cones; umbo is armed with a short spine, maturing in early fall. Twig: Orange-brown in color, fine to moderately stout; buds are narrowly ovoid, light reddish brown. Bark: Initially red- to gray-brown and scaly; older trees are ridged and furrowed, with somewhat rounded scaly plates; very old trees have red-brown, flat scaly plates. Form: A medium to large tree can reach well over 100 feet tall, self-prunes well and develops a fairly straight trunk and an oval, somewhat open crown. Looks like: pitch pine - pond pine - slash pine - shortleaf pine Additional Range Information: Pinus taeda is native to North America. Range may be expanded by planting. See states reporting loblolly pine. More: Wood External Links: USDAFS Silvics of North America USDAFS Additional Silvics Landowner Factsheet USDA Plants Database Horticulture © Copyright 2016, 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