White Pine
Pinus strobus
Coniferous
Other Name: None
White Pine Bark
White Pine Cone
White Pine Leaf and Fruit
Leaves: Needles in clusters of 5, very flexible, up to 5 inches long, blue-green.
Bark: Brown divided into broad ridge by shallow fissures.
Twigs: Slender, Orange-brown, smooth, or slightly hairy.
Flowers: Staminate crowded into several yellow spikes up to 1/3 inch long; pistillate crowded into fewer groups, pink to purple.
Fruits: Cones oblong, curved, drooping, up to 8 inches long each scale compromising the cone lacking any prickles; seed narrowly oblong, up to ¼ inch long, with a wing up to ¾ inch long.
Wood: Light in weight, soft, light brown.
Uses: Interior finishing, construction.
Habitat: Moist woods, wooded slopes.
Growth Form: Tall tree well over 100 feet tall in some regions of the United States; trunk diameter sometimes in excess of 3 feet, crown pyramidal.
Distinguishing Feature: The soft, blue-green needles in clusters of 5 readily distinguish the White Pine.
Source: Mohlenbrock, Robert. Forest Trees of Illinois. Eighth Edition, Illinois Department of Natural Resources, 1996.