PlantFiles: Loblolly Pine, Southern Yellow Pine, Arkansas Pine, North Carolina Pine, Oldfield Pine
Pinus taeda

We own several at our home in SE PA and several more at our seasonal home near Dover DE. They are beautiful trees but snow and ice are somewhat of an issue at our PA home (but most are growing fairly straight. They do require a good mulching for the winter N of Baltimore or Wilmington DE.

In many places in north peninsular Florida, this has become the dominant species unless slash pine has been planted or preserved in native stands. This is because fire is part of the ecosystem here, yet fire has been suppressed. Loblolly pines resist fire poorly both as juveniles and adults: if controlled burns or natural fires recur in an area, the fire-resisting slash pine will dominate. They seem to out-compete slash pine when fire is suppressed, and as far as I can tell can endure waterlogged soil better than can slash pines. A lot of the big pines in towns such as Gainesville are of this species, and for just that reason. It doesn't really belong here in such numbers. The twenty-footers on my land seem prone to storm damage, weak limbs, "swallowing" of unfallen cones into limbs and trunks (weakens them, looks weird), and heavy production of seeds (hence seedlings if you don't mow enough) and pollen. Inferior to slash pine, though mostly attractive, adaptable, and with useful wood.

Loblolly pine is very common where I live and I have a few of them. These are best when grown in the open where they can have a lower stance and thicker trunk. When they are tall and slender they are prone to stem breakage. Loblolly pines are also very susceptible to southern pine beetles which has killed lots of trees here. Longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) is a much better choice.

One of the most common pines in the south. The needles are 6" to 9" long with 3 to a cluster. Basal needle sheaths are 7/16" to 11/16" long. Half inch branches snap cleanly when sharply bent. Twigs are about 1/4" in diameter. Trunk sprouts are lacking.

Cones are 3" to 6" long and old cones often remain on the tree.Cone scales are 3/8" to 1/2' wide, brown tipped or plain inside, with 1/16" to 1/8" thorns outside.

Cones are very prickly when handled and gloves are reccomended.

Trunk bark is blackish, forming plates that have an orange tinge.

Common in old fields and wet sites.

As said above, this is an extremely important lumber tree for the US, the construction industry depends upon this tree in a huge way.

Harlyangel, what you have on your property is most likely the very common Florida Slash Pine (Pinus Eliotti)

I don't know what gives with the hardiness rating into the 9's and 10's but I haven't been able to get the lobs to work here in 9b with this soil.

Some alternatives though if you are in the coastal areas of Florida and like that short needle look, Sand Pines look similar although don't grow as fast or as tall.

The Lobs create a virtual dust bowl of pollen in the spring in some areas blanketing cars and homes. For a lower pollen alternative try the Slash Pine. Strangely enough whenever the pollen came back in GA, I actually was able to breathe through both nostrils. Strange.

The most common pine in north Alabama. They seem to be everywhere!
They are planted as ornamentals, and for timber and pulpwood. A good pine to plant if you live in the South.

It looks like the same kind of pine on our property, and we are in south florida...Loxahatchee, which is west of West Palm Beach FL. Any ideas on what kind of care these need?

This tree is the center of the Arkansas timber industry. Usually these trees are cut when they are about 14 years old. They are a fast growing tree that does well in the South. They are easily broken by ice accumulation, so probably would not be recommended where snow and ice are a problem.

This tree is one of the United States most valuable resources and a very large portion of the U.S. is built with it. BTW, its range extends all the way down into northern South America and very similar varieties are found througout the world.

I planted a Loblolly pine seedling in Yucca Valley, April 2004. I brought it over from Misissippi in August 2003 and over-wintered it in a one gallon pot before planting it. During the time it was in the pot, it continued to grow! I have no doubt it will be successful in the high desert areas of Southern California. I will post the tree's progress.

This is a very vigorous growing tree. However, it cannot take heavy snow or ice as branches will snap off quite easily. During ice storms small trees will bend to the point where their tops are on the ground....generally they will recover. This is not a tree that you would want to plant in the northern parts of the USA. Realistically, no further north than southern Virginia. In the South, however, it is a very easy tree and does well during extended droughts as well during our normally hot and wet summers. Only pine I would recommend for use in the South above the Loblolly is the Long Leaf Pine.

The loblolly pine is the mainstay of America's multi-billion dollar forest industry. Georgia has the largest commercial forest in the United States (nearly 24 million acres), and a huge portion of it consists of loblolly pines.

The tree's sun-loving, fast growing character and its ability to adapt to eroded soils make it an ideal "crop" tree. Its wood is great for products ranging from house floor joists to baby diapers.

The native range of loblolly pine extends through 14 States from southern New Jersey south to central Florida and west to eastern Texas.

This evergreen coniferous tree grows to 110 ft tall and 3 ft in diameter with long straight trunk and dense rounded crown. The bark is blackish and scaly on small trees to bright red-brown on large old trees, with large flat scaly plates.

The species originally occurred in wet bottomlands, but it is an aggressive invader of cutover areas and abandoned farmland.