SCIENTIFIC NAME: Pinus taeda

COMMON NAME: loblolly pine

LEAVES: 3 needles/fascicle and 6" to 8" long. Straight. Nonpubescent buds. Fascicles clustered at the tips of branches.

CONES: Grayish brown and up to 4" long. Retained on the tree so trees almost always have cones hanging in them. The cone is flush mounted to the stem (sessile). Open cones will stick you when squeezed.

BARK: Scaly plates.

OTHER: Fast growing (grows 100' to 120' tall). Cones are sessile (no stalk), grey, prickly, and are retained by the tree. The most common lumber pine growing in the southeast. Native all over Alabama. Needles tend to be clustered at the tips of branches. One of the most commonly planted landscape pines in the south. Some think that it is not as attractive for the landscape as some of the other pines. Most container grown. Native from Tennessee and Virginia south to Tampa, Florida. Grows up to about 2000 ft. elevation. Cultivar 'Nana' is propagated from a witches' broom and is supposed to be dwarf growing only about 15' high.