| Pinus strobus | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Pinus strobus group | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Gymnospermae |
| Division: | Pinophyta |
| Class: | Pinopsida |
| Order: | Pinales |
| Family: | Pinaceae |
| Genus: | Pinus |
| Subgenus: | P. subg.Strobus |
| Section: | P.sect. Quinquefoliae |
| Subsection: | P.subsect. Strobus |
| Species: | P. strobus |
| Binomial name | |
| Pinus strobus | |
Pinus strobus, commonly called theeastern white pine,northern white pine,white pine,Weymouth pine (British), andsoft pine[2] is a largepine native to eastern North America. It occurs fromNewfoundland, Canada, west through theGreat Lakes region to southeasternManitoba andMinnesota, United States, and south along theAppalachian Mountains and upperPiedmont to northernmostGeorgia and very rare in some of the higher elevations in northeasternAlabama.[3] It is considered rare inIndiana.[4]
TheHaudenosaunee maintain the tree as the central symbol of their multinational confederation, calling it the "Tree of Peace",[5] where the Seneca use the nameo’sóä’[6] and theKanienʼkehá:ka call itonerahtase'ko:wa.[7] Within theWabanaki Confederacy, theMi'kmaq use the termguow to name the tree,[8] both theWolastoqewiyik andPeskotomuhkatiyik call itkuw orkuwes,[9] and theAbenaki use the termkowa.[10]
It is known as the "Weymouth pine" in the United Kingdom,[11] after CaptainGeorge Weymouth of theBritish Royal Navy, who brought its seeds to England fromMaine in 1605.[12]
P. strobus is found in thenearctictemperate broadleaf and mixed forestsbiome of eastern North America. It prefers well-drained or sandy soils and humid climates, but can also grow in boggy areas and rocky highlands. In mixed forests, this dominant tree towers over many others, including some of the large broadleaf hardwoods. It provides food and shelter for numerous forest birds, such as thered crossbill, and small mammals such as squirrels.[13]
Fossilized white pine leaves and pollen have been discovered byBrian Axsmith, apaleobotanist at theUniversity of South Alabama, in theGulf Coastal Plain, where the tree no longer occurs.[14]
Eastern white pine forests originally covered much of north-central and northeastern North America. Only 1% of theold-growth forests remain after the extensive logging operations from the 18th century to early 20th century.
Old-growth forests, or virgin stands, are protected inGreat Smoky Mountains National Park. Other protected areas with known virgin forests, as confirmed by the Eastern Native Tree Society, includeAlgonquin Provincial Park,Quetico Provincial Park, Algoma Highlands inOntario, andSainte-Marguerite River Old Forest in Quebec, Canada;Estivant Pines,Huron Mountains,Porcupine Mountains State Park, andSylvania Wilderness Area in theUpper Peninsula ofMichigan, United States;Hartwick Pines State Park in theLower Peninsula ofMichigan;Menominee Indian Reservation inWisconsin; Lost 40 Scientific and Natural Area (SNA) andBoundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness inMinnesota;White Pines State Park,Illinois;Cook Forest State Park,Hearts Content Scenic Area, andAnders Run Natural Area inPennsylvania; and theLinville Gorge Wilderness inNorth Carolina, United States.
Smallgroves or individual specimens of old-growth eastern white pines are found across the range of the species in the USA, including in Ordway Grove,Maine;Ice Glen,Massachusetts; andAdirondack Park, New York. Many sites with conspicuously large specimens represent advancedold-fieldecological succession. The tall stands inMohawk Trail State Forest andWilliam Cullen Bryant Homestead inMassachusetts are examples.
As anintroduced species,P. strobus is nownaturalizing in theOuter Western Carpathians subdivision of theCarpathian Mountains in Czech Republic and southern Poland. It has spread from specimens planted asornamental trees.
Like most members of thewhite pine group,Pinus subgenusStrobus, theleaves ("needles") are coniferous, occurring in fascicles (bundles) of five, or rarely three or four, with adeciduoussheath. The leaves are flexible, bluish-green, finelyserrated, and 5–13 cm (2–5 in) long.
Theseed cones are slender, 8–16 cm (3+1⁄4–6+1⁄4 in) long (rarely longer than that) and4–5 cm (1+1⁄2–2 in) broad when open, and have scales with a rounded apex and slightly reflexed tip, often resinous. Theseeds are4–5 mm (5⁄32–3⁄16 in) long, with a slender15–20 mm (5⁄8–3⁄4 in) wing, and are dispersed by wind. Cone production peaks every 3 to 5 years.
The branches are spaced about every 18 inches on the trunk with five or six branches appearing like spokes on a wagon wheel. Eastern white pine is self-fertile, but seeds produced this way tend to result in weak, stunted, and malformed seedlings. Mature trees are often 200–250 years old, and some live over 400 years. A tree growing nearSyracuse, New York, was dated to 458 years old in the late 1980s and trees in Michigan and Wisconsin were dated to roughly 500 years old.
The eastern white pine has been described as the tallest tree in eastern North America, perhaps sharing the prize with the deciduoustulip tree whose range overlaps with eastern white pine in a few areas. In naturalprecolonial stands, the pine was frequently reported to have grown as tall as 70 m (230 ft) or more. No means exist for accurately documenting the height of trees from these times, but eastern white pine may have reached this height on rare occasions. James Brown ofArniston, a forester and later Inspector of Woods and Forests,Port Elgin, Canada wrote in 1882:
“In its native habitats this pine grows to very large dimensions. We have measured many of them as they lay felled on the ground and taking a number of them we found the stems average 150 feet long by 2 feet 9 inches diameter at 5 feet up from the bottom. This may be taken as an average of the size of the trees as they stand in their native parts ; but we have found many of them that measured 210 feet long with stems from 5 to 7 feet in diameter at 4 feet up from the bottom and on counting the annular layers on the stumps from which they were cut we found them to range between 350 and 425 which may be taken as representing the years of their age.”[15]
Even greater heights and diameters have been reported in numerous early town and county histories, lumber journals, and popular, but unverifiable, accounts such as Robert Pike'sTall Trees, Tough Men.[16]
Total trunk volumes of the largest specimens are around 28 m3 (990 cu ft), with some past giants possibly reaching 37 to 40 m3 (1,300 to 1,400 cu ft). Photographic analysis of giants suggests volumes closer to 34 m3 (1,200 cu ft).[citation needed]
P. strobus grows about 1 m (3.3 ft) annually between the ages of 15 and 45 years, with slower height increments before and after that age range.[17] The tallest presently living specimens are 50–57.55 m (164 ft 1 in – 188 ft 10 in) tall, as determined by theNative Tree Society (NTS).[18] Prior to their exploitation, it was common for white pines in northern Wisconsin to reach heights of over 61 m (200 ft).[19] Three locations in the Southeastern United States and one site in the Northeastern United States have trees that are 55 m (180 ft) tall.[where?][citation needed]Common height of 80 feet or more.[13]
The southern Appalachian Mountains have the most locations and the tallest trees in the present range ofP. strobus. One survivor is a specimen known as the "Boogerman Pine" in theCataloochee Valley ofGreat Smoky Mountains National Park. At 57.55 m (188 ft 10 in) tall, it is the tallest accurately measured tree in North America east of theRocky Mountains[citation needed], though this conflicts with citations forLiriodendron tulipifera. It has been climbed and measured by tape drop by the NTS. BeforeHurricane Opal broke its top in October 1995, Boogerman Pine was 63 m (207 ft) tall, as determined by Will Blozan and Robert Leverett using ground-based measurements.
The tallest specimens inHartwick Pines State Park in Michigan are 45–48 m (148–157 ft) tall.
In the northeastern USA, eight sites in four states currently have trees over 48 m (157 ft) tall, as confirmed by the NTS. TheCook Forest State Park ofPennsylvania has the most numerous collection of 45 m (148 ft) eastern white pines in the Northeast, with 110 trees measuring that height or more. The park's "Longfellow Pine" is the tallest presently living eastern white pine in the Northeast, at 55.96 m (183 ft 7 in) tall, as determined by tape drop.[20] TheMohawk Trail State Forest of Massachusetts has 83 trees measuring 45 m (148 ft) or more tall, of which six exceed 48.8 m (160 ft). The "Jake Swamp Tree" located there is 51.54 m (169 ft 1 in) tall.[21][22] The NTS maintains precise measurements of it. A private property inClaremont, New Hampshire, has approximately 60 specimens that are at least 45 m (148 ft), with the tallest being 50.63 m (166.1 ft).[23]
Diameters of the larger pines range from 1.0–1.6 m (3 ft 3 in – 5 ft 3 in), which translates to a circumference (girth) range of 3.1–5.0 m (10 ft 2 in – 16 ft 5 in). However, single-trunked white pines in both the Northeast and Southeast with diameters over 1.45 m (4 ft 9 in) are exceedingly rare. Notable big pine sites of 40 ha (99 acres) or less often have no more than two or three trees in the 1.2- to 1.4-m-diameter class. Common diameter of 2-3 feet.[13]
Unconfirmed reports from the colonial era gave diameters of virgin white pines of up to 2.4 m (8 ft).[24]
Because the eastern white pine tree is somewhat resistant to fire, mature survivors are able to reseed burned areas. In pure stands, mature trees usually have no branches on the lower half of their trunks. Thewhite pine weevil (Pissodes strobi) and white pine blister rust (Cronartium ribicola), an introduced fungus, can damage or kill these trees.
Mortality from white pine blister rust in mature pine groves was often 50–80% during the early 20th century. The fungus must spend part of its lifecycle on alternate hosts of the genusRibes, the native gooseberry or wild currant. Foresters proposed that if all the alternate host plants were removed, white pine blister rust might be eliminated. A very determined campaign was mounted, and all land owners in commercial pine-growing regions were encouraged to uproot and kill all native gooseberry and wild currant plants.[24][25] The ramifications for wildlife andhabitat ecology were of less concern at the time than timber-industry protection.[13]
Today, native wild currants are relatively rare plants in New England, and planting wild currants or wild gooseberries is strongly discouraged, or even illegal in some jurisdictions. As an alternative, new strains of commercial currants have been developed that are highly resistant to white pine blister rust. Mortality in white pines from rust is only about 3% today.[citation needed]
Old white pines are treasured in the United States. An American National Natural Landmark,Cook Forest State Park in Pennsylvania, contains the tallest known tree in the Northeastern United States, a white pine named Longfellow Pine.[26] Some white pines in Wisconsin are over 200 years old.[27] Although widely planted as a landscape tree in the Midwestern states,[28] native White pine is listed as "rare or uncommon" inIndiana.[3][29]
In the 19th century, the harvesting ofMidwestern white pine forests played a major role in America'swestward expansion through theGreat Plains. A quarter-million white pines were harvested and sent to lumber yards in Chicago in a single year.[30]
The white pine had aesthetic appeal to contemporarynaturalists such asHenry David Thoreau ("There is no finer tree.")[31] Beyond that, it hadcommercial applications. It was considered "the most sought and most widely utilized of the various forest growths of thenorthwest."[32] Descriptions of its uses are quoted below from a 19th-century source:
Being of a soft texture and easily worked, taking paint better than almost any other variety of wood, it has been found adaptable to all the uses demanded in the building art, from the manufacture of packing cases to the bearing timber and finer finish of a dwelling. Of light weight, it has borne transportation to the farms of the west, where it is used for building purposes in dwellings, barns, and corn cribs, while as a fencing material it has no superior. Aside from those conditions which demand a dense strong timber, such as ship-building or in wagon-making, white pine has been found adaptable to all the economic uses in which lumber is required, not excluding its use in coarser articles of furniture. No wood has found greater favor or entered more fully into supplying all those wants of man which could be found in the forest growths.[32]
The species was imported in 1620 to England by CaptainGeorge Weymouth, who planted it for a timber crop, but had little success because of white pine blister rust disease.
Old-growth pine in the Americas, of variousPinus species, was a highly desired wood since huge, knot-free boards were the rule rather than the exception. Pine was common and easy to cut, thus many colonial homes used pine for paneling, floors, and furniture. Pine was also a favorite tree of loggers, since pine logs can still be processed in a lumber mill a year or more after being cut down. In contrast, most hardwood trees such as cherry, maple, oak, and ash must be cut into 1" thick boards immediately after felling, or else large cracks will develop in the trunk which can render the wood worthless.[24][13]
Although eastern white pine was frequently used for flooring in buildings constructed before theU.S. Civil War, the wood is soft and tends to cup over time with wear.George Washington opted for the much hardersouthern yellow pine at Mount Vernon, instead.[24]
During the 17th and 18th centuries, tall white pines in theThirteen Colonies became known as "mast pines". Marked by agents ofthe Crown with thebroad arrow, a mast pine was reserved for the BritishRoyal Navy. Special barge-like vessels were built to ship tall white pines to England. The wood was often squared to better fit in the holds of these ships.[24] A 30-metre (100 ft) mast was about 0.91 m × 0.91 m (3 ft × 3 ft) at the butt and 0.61 m × 0.61 m (2 ft × 2 ft) at the top, while a 37-metre (120 ft) mast was 1.2 m × 1.2 m (4 ft × 4 ft) by 0.76 m (30 in) on its ends.
By 1719,Portsmouth, New Hampshire, had become the hub of pine logging and shipping. Portsmouth shipped 199 masts to England that year. In all, about 4500 masts were sent to England.[33]
The eastern white pine played a significant role in the events leading to theAmerican Revolution.[34][35][36] Marking of large white pines by the Crown had become controversial in the colonies by the first third of the 18th century. In 1734, the King's men were assaulted and beaten inExeter, New Hampshire, in what was to be called theMast Tree Riot. ColonelDavid Dunbar had been in the town investigating a stock pile of white pine in a pond and the ownership of the local timber mill before caning two townspeople.[37] In 1772, the sheriff ofHillsborough County, New Hampshire, was sent to the town ofWeare to arrest mill owners for the illegal possession of large white pines. That night, as the sheriff slept at the Pine Tree Tavern, he was attacked and nearly killed by an angry mob of colonists. This act of rebellion, later to become known as thePine Tree Riot, may have fueled theBoston Tea Party in 1773.
After the Revolutionary War, the fledgling United States used large white pines to build out its own navy. The masts of theUSSConstitution were originally made of eastern white pine.[38] The original masts were single trees, but were later replaced by laminated spars[citation needed] to better withstand cannonballs.[citation needed]
In colonial times, an unusually large, lone, white pine was found in coastal South Carolina along theBlack River, far east of its southernmost normal range.[citation needed] The king's mark was carved into it, giving rise to the town ofKingstree.[39]
Eastern white pine is now widely grown inplantationforestry within its native area.
Eastern white pine has often been used for timber frames, and is available in large sizes. Eastern white pine timbers are not particularly strong, so timbers increase in size to handle loads applied. This species accepts stains better than most, but it has little rot resistance, so should be used only in dry conditions.[13]
Freshly cut eastern white pine is yellowish white or a pale straw color, but pine wood which has aged many years tends to darken to a deep, rich, golden tan. Occasionally, one can find light brown pine boards with unusual yellowish-golden or reddish-brown hues. This is the famous "pumpkin pine". Slow growing pines in old-growth forests are thought to accumulate colored products in the heartwood, but genetic factors and soil conditions may also play a role in rich color development.[35]
This wood is also favored by patternmakers for its easy working.[13]
Cottontail, snowshoe rabbits, porcupines, can eat the bark. Red squirrels can eat the cones by extracting the seeds. Seeds are eaten by crossbills, pine siskin, and white tailed deer.[13]
Eastern white pine needles exceed the amount ofvitamin C of lemons and oranges[40] and make an excellentherbal tea. Thecambium is edible. It is also a source ofresveratrol.Linnaeus noted in the 18th century that cattle and pigs fed pinebark bread grew well, but he personally did not like the taste.
Pine tar is produced by slowly burning pine roots, branches, or small trunks in a partially smothered flame. Pine tar mixed with beer can be used to removetapeworms (flat worms) ornematodes (round worms). Pine tar mixed with sulfur is useful to treat dandruff, and marketed in present-day products. Pine tar can also be processed to maketurpentine.[41]
The name "Adirondack", anIroquois word that means tree-eater, referred to their neighbors (more commonly known as theAlgonquians) who collected the inner bark ofP. strobus,Picea rubens, and others during times of winter starvation. The white, soft inner bark (cambial layer) was carefully separated from the hard, dark brown bark and dried. When pounded, this product can be used as flour or added to stretch other starchy products.[42][43][13]
The young staminate cones were stewed by theOjibwe Indians with meat, and were said to be sweet and not pitchy. In addition, the seeds are sweet and nutritious, but not as tasty as those of some of the western nut pines.[42]
Pine resin (sap) has been used by various tribes to waterproof baskets, pails, and boats. The Ojibwe also used pine resin to successfully treat infections and even gangrenous wounds,[42] because pine resin apparently has a number of quite efficient antimicrobials. Generally, a wet pulp from the inner bark, or pine tar mixed with beeswax or butter was applied to wounds and used as a salve to prevent infection.
P. strobus is cultivated byplant nurseries as anornamental tree, for planting in gardens and parks.[44] The species is low-maintenance and rapid-growing as a specimen tree. With regular shearing, it can also be trained as ahedge. Some cultivars are used inbonsai.[45]
Cultivars have been selected for small to dwarf mature forms, and foliage color characteristics.[45] They include:
Smaller specimens are popular as liveChristmas trees. Eastern white pines are noted for holding their needles well, even long after being harvested. They also are well suited for people with allergies, as they give little to no aroma. A standard 1.8-meter (6 ft) tree takes around 6 to 8 years to grow in ideal conditions. Sheared varieties are usually desired because of their stereotypical Christmas tree conical shape, as naturally grown ones can be sparse, or grow bushy in texture.[46] The branches of the eastern white pine are also widely used in making holiday wreaths and garlands because of their soft, feathery needles.
White pine xylem has been used as a filter to clean certain bacteria from contaminated water.[47] Hemacytometer tests revealed that at least 99.9% of bacteria tested were rejected after being passed through white pine xylem.[48]
TheindigenousHaudenosaunee (Iroquois Confederation) named it the "Tree of Peace". Since 2017, it has appeared on theflag andseal of the city of Montreal to represent the indigenous peoples of the area.
The eastern white pine is theprovincial tree ofOntario, Canada.[49]
In the United States, it is thestate tree ofMaine (as of 1945)[50] andMichigan (as of 1955).[51] Its "pine cone and tassel" is also thestate flower of Maine, and is prominently featured on the state's license plates.[52] Sprigs of eastern white pine were worn as badges as a symbol ofVermont identity during theVermont Republic and are depicted in a stained-glass window in theVermont State House, on theFlag of Vermont, and on thenaval ensign of theCommonwealth of Massachusetts and the state of Maine. The1901 Maine Flag prominently featured the tree during its brief tenure as Maine's state flag. TheMaine State Guard also use the tree in their uniform badges.
The tree had four symbolic roots, the Great White Roots of Peace, spreading north, east, south, and west. If any other nation ever wished to join the League, it would have to follow the White Roots of Peace to the source and take shelter beneath the tree. Atop the tree, he placed an eagle to scream out a warning at the approach of danger. He symbolically planted the tree in the land of the Onondagas, the place of the Grre, the confederate lords, or peace chiefs, would sit beneath it and be caretakers of the Great Peace.
Media related toPinus strobus at Wikimedia Commons
