The Tree

Virginia Pine is a tree similar in shape to Jack Pine with long branches, more or less ragged, and a flat straggly open top with usually a comparatively short trunk. Generally the tree is 40 to 50 feet tall with a trunk diameter of 12 to 18 inches, but larger individual trees are also found. The needles are two per bundle one and a half to three inches long, stiff, sharply pointed, twisted, a grayish green color, and distributed well over the long smooth branches. The cones mature in two seasons, are 2 to 3 inches long growing closely to the twig. These cones have slender scales and sharp spines or prickles. The dark brown bark of this pine is one-quarter to one-half inch thick with shallow furrows forming rather small scales.

Virginia Pine Pollen Cones

Virginia Pine bark

Common Names in Use

• Virginia Pine (Md.,Va., N.C., trade)
• Alligator Pine (N.C.)
• Black Pine (Ga)
• Cedar Pine (N.C.)
• Hickory Pine (N.C.)
• Jersey Pine (N.I., Pa., Del., N.C., S.C.)
• New Jersey Pine (lit.)
• Nigger Pine (Tenn,, Ga.)
• North Carolina Pine (N.C.)
• Poverty Pine
• River Pine (N.C.)
• Scrub Pine (R.I., N.Y., Pa., Del., N.C., S.C., Ohio)
• Shortschat Pine (Del.)
• Shortleaved (N. C.)
• Spruce (Ga.)
• Spruce Pine (N.I., Md., Va., N.C., S.C., Tenn., Ala.)

Growth Range

The growth range of Virginia Pine extends from Long Island and the south half of Pennsylvania southward to central Georgia and westward across the Allegheny Mountains to southern Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, central Alabama, and northeastern Mississippi.

The Wood

The heartwood of the Vinginia Pine is a light orange to yellow-tan, soft, light, coarse-grained, brittle and generally quite knotty. It is non-porous and considerably resinous.

Uses

This pine, although containing considerable resin, is increasingly used for paper pulp, mine props, piling, railroad ties and lumber for general construction. Tar and charcoal are also made from it.

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