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