White Pine Pinus Strobus B&B – The Five Needled Multi-Purpose Pine



Posted: Thursday, November 12, 2009

by
tn nursery

The white pine has the scientific name, pinus strobus . It is a combination of Greek and Latin terms meaning "gum yielding fir tree." It belongs to the pinaceae family of trees. It is one of the largest eastern conifers, easily available in a nursery , in Ball & Burlap. The tree grows up to a height of 80 feet to 110 feet. The white pine has a spread of about 20 feet to 40 feet.

You can use the tree as bonsai. People grow white pine as the hedge or as screens for privacy. The white pine is a good option for pedestrian ways, but it requires pruning for clearance beneath canopy on vehicular ways. Regular pruning gives a strong structure to the tree as it begins to droop with old age. The tree has fruits that cause litter along with the twigs and foliage. The fruits do not attract any wildlife.

The white pine lives for about 400 years. The life may extend well beyond 450 years, though commonly reaches the age of about 200 years. The leaves of this evergreen tree are needle-shaped, and its length varies between 2 to 4 inches. The leaves have three sides and are available as bundles of five. The clusters of five needles make the tree distinct from other pine trees, as this is the only tree with five needled bundles. The color of the soft needles is blue-green. Some species of white pine retain the bluish color throughout winters while others lose it. The foliage of the tree varies widely. The tree experiences rapid growth in its initial years but slows down with age. Numerous branches originate from one point in the trunk. Multiple branches give the appearance of layers to the foliage of white pine. The layers become distinct during middle and old age.

The bark of the tree is smooth and gray when the tree is young. It gets darker and thicker with the increase in age; changing its color to gray-brown. It breaks into small rectangular blocks as the years go by. The bark contains deep furrows and broad ridges. It has scaly plates with a tinge of purple color. The branches of the tree are few and they have slightly upturned tips at the ends. If the tree grows in closed stands, there are no branches for about two-third of the tree-height. The trunk of white pine has a diameter of about five feet. The twigs have rusty hair when at a young age. The pale red-brown color of young twigs changes to gray as they grow old and become softer. The twigs are flexible and slender. The buds of white pine have an aroma. They are sticky and resinous in nature. White pine has thorn less, long, tapering and slender cones of about 3 to 10 inches.

For a favorable growth, the tree requires moist and sandy loamy soils. One of the important uses of the tree is reforestation. The white pine is important for its lumber. In earlier times, the wood of the tree provided masts for many sailing ships.

This Article has been viewed 224 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
No comments yet.
We want your comments! If you can read this, you don't have javascript enabled, so you can't use this comment system. Please enable javascript.