The Tree

The Loblolly Pine is also known as a Southern Yellow Pine and one of the four commercially important pines of the deep southeast. It is found in low moist sites called “loblollies” from which the tree derives its name. It is a tall erect tree 60 to 125 feet high and one and a half to five feet in diameter and not heavily limbed. The bark is moderately thin, deeply furrowed, broken by large long scales, and is cinnamon or red-brown in color. The slender, stiff, sharp, pointed needles are five to nine inches long, three in a bundle, and a pale green color. The spiny reddish-brown cones which mature in two years are three to six inches long, and form in crowded clusters. The tree grows rapidly, is not easily killed by forest fires, mainly because it has a thick bark and usually grows in low damp soils. It does, however, suffer greatly from the attacks of pine sawyer, the Southern Pine Bark beetle and bud moth.

Loblolly bark

Loblolly female pine cone

Common Names in Use

• Loblolly Pine (Del., Va., N.C., S.C.,Ga., Ala., Fla., Miss., La., Tex., Ark.)
• Foxtail Pine (Va., Md.)
• Frankincense Pine (lit)
• Heart Pine (N.C.)
• Arkansas Pine (Trade)
• Indian Pine (Va., N.C.)
• Bastard Pine (Va., N.C.)
• Lobby Pine (Va.)
• Black Pine (Va., N.C., Ga.)
• Longleaf Pine (Md., Va., N.C.)
• Bog Pine (N.C.)
• Black Slash Pine (S.C.)
• Longschat Pine (Del.)
• Buckskin Pine (La., Miss.)
• Longshucks (Md., Va.)
• Bull Pine (Tex. and Gulf region, Md., Ark.)
• Old Field Pine (most southern states)
• Cornstalk Pine (Va.)
• Shortleaf Pine (Va, N.C., S.C., La.)
• Longstraw Pine (Va., N.C. in part)
• Maiden Pine (N.C.)
• Shortstraw Pine
• Meadow Pine (Fla)
• Slash Pine (Va., N.C. in part)
• North Carolina Pine (trade)
• Southern Pine (trade)
• Oldfield Pine (Del.,Va., N.C., S.C., Ala., Fla., Miss., La., Ark.)
• Spruce Pine (Va. in part)
• Torch Pine (Eng., lit.)
• Swamp Pine (Va., N.C.)
• Prop Pine (Mt., Va.)
• Virginia Pine (trade)
• Rosemary Pine (Va., N.C. in part)
• Sap Pine (eastern trade)
• Sap Pine (Va., N.C.)
• Yellow Pine (north Ala., N.C., Ark.)

Growth Range

The growth range of Loblolly Pine extends along the Atlantic coastal plain from southern Delaware southward to the northern half of Florida, and westward to eastern Texas and southern Arkansas.

The Wood

The wood of Loblolly Pine is resinous, non-porous, strong, moderately hard, medium heavy, stiff and straight or cross grained, uneven texture, and has distinct growth rings. The heart-wood is a light-tan or yellowish-brown,while the sapwood is three to five inches wide and a creamy-white. The wood works rather hard with tools, not easily nailed but holds nails and screws well.

Uses

Large quantities of this species are now used for paper pulp. It is an important lumber tree, the wood being used for all types of general construction, interior finish, box shooks, basket veneer, boxes, tobacco hogsheads, cooperage, mine timbers, ties and poles for which use a creosote treatment is given. It is also used for making charcoal. It does not produce sufficient resin for naval stores, although the wood is rich in resin ducts.

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