Loblolly Pine

(Pinus taeda)

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Loblolly Pine (Pinus taeda)

Identifying Characters: Loblolly Pine is characterized by needles in bundles of 3 from 6 to 9 inches long. The cones are elongate and cylindrical and the mature tree is tall with spreading branches.

Similar Species: Loblolloy Pine might be confused with Long-leaf Pine (Pinus palustris) and Pond Pine (Pinus serotina). The cones of Pond Pine are round and globular, but those of Loblolly Pine are elongate and cylindrical. The needles of Long-leaf Pine are longer than those of Loblolly Pine (8 to 12 inches in Long-leaf Pine and 6 to 9 inches in Loblolly Pine) and the needles of Longleaf Pine tend to be clustered in clumps on the branches, but are more evenly spread out in Loblolly Pine.

Measurements: Mature individuals 80 to 100 feet tall with a straight trunk and widely spread branches; trunk about 2 feet wide at breast height.

Cones: Cones elongate, cylindric, 6 to 9 inches long; cone scales thin, rounded at the apex and with a short apical spine.

Needles: Needles 6 to 9 inches long, slender, stiff; bundle sheath not shed after the first year; color yellow-green or pale green; needles may be slightly twisted.

Bark: Bark on mature trees red-brown and irregularly divided into flat scales.

Native Range: The native range of Loblolly Pine extends through 14 States from southern New Jersey south to central Florida and west to eastern Texas. It includes the Atlantic Plain, the Piedmont Plateau, and the southern extremities of the Cumberland Plateau, the Highland Rim, and the Valley and Ridge Provinces of the Appalachian Highlands. Loblolly Pine does not grow naturally in the Mississippi River flood plain and is scarce in the deep, coarse sands of the lower Atlantic Plain and sandhills of North and South Carolina; it is important only in localized areas in southeastern Georgia and northern Florida.

Loblolly Pine is an adaptable species that has been successfully planted along the periphery of its natural range and has been introduced on other continents with varying degrees of success. (Silvics of North America. 1990. Agriculture Handbook 654.)

Habitat: Loblolly Pine occurs in a wide variety of habitats within its native range, but is rare on well drained soils.