shortleaf pine
Pinus echinata
Unlike most other southern pines, young shortleaf pines can sprout back from their root collar if their tops are killed by wildfire.
- Scientific name
- Pinus echinata
- Taxonomy
- Plantae › Tracheophyta › Pinopsida › Pinales › Pinaceae › Pinus
- IUCN Red List status
- Least Concern
- Population trend
- decreasing
- Biome
- forest
- Habitat
- Dry, rocky upland soils, mixed pine-oak forests, and flatwoods.
- Diet
- Autotrophic (photosynthesis requiring sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide).
- Range
- United States
- Size
- Height of 20 to 35 meters (65 to 115 feet), trunk diameter up to 1 meter.
- Lifespan
- 150 to 200 years
- Active
- diurnal
- Threats
- Fire suppression, hybridization with loblolly pine, southern pine beetle outbreaks, and land development.
- Safe to approach?
- Harmless. Safe to approach and touch. Watch out for sticky resin (sap) on the bark, which can stain clothing. If sap gets on your skin, use vegetable oil or rubbing alcohol to dissolve it before washing with soap and water.
Pinus echinata , the shortleaf pine , is a species of pine native to the eastern United States from southernmost New York State, south to northern Florida, west to eastern Oklahoma, and southwest to eastern Texas. The tree is variable in form, sometimes straight, sometimes crooked, with an irregular crown. This tree reaches heights of 20–30 metres (65–100 ft) with a trunk diameter of 0.5–0.9 metres (1 ft 8 in–2 ft 11 in).
Photo: Douglas Goldman, CC-BY-SA, via iNaturalist
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