Types of Pine Trees

While botanists classify pine types based on strict physiological criteria, a layperson's less comprehensive approach, provides a quick way to organize an answer to your basic what type of pine tree is this question.

Most laypersons recognize Pinus species by their names, which follow the pattern of a formal name, followed by the word pine, such as Scots Pine, Jack Pine, Red Pine and Stone Pine.

Because most pine tree species grow in specific areas, any particular area usually only hosts a few of the total one hundred plus pinus species.

Identifying any of the handful of pines native to an area can be as easy as examining the tree's needles and matching them with the local species.

With few exceptions, pine tree needles grow in pairs of two, three and five, giving rise to the common phrases two-needle pines, three-needle pines and five-needle pines.

Consider the following three examples.

Shore Pine (Pinus contorta contorta), a two-needle pine, grows on many types of soils along the Pacific Northwest coastal areas.

The trees grow in a somewhat irregular pattern, often smaller and wider than the typical tall and thin pine tree shape.

Their adaptability makes them a popular landscaping tree. The top picture shows a cone surrounded by the two needle bundles on the branches.

Ponderosa Pine (Pinus ponderosa) or Yellow Pine, as it is sometimes called, ranks as the tallest member of the Pinus genus.

Growing close to two hundred feet, it towers above other pines in its native habitat, western North America.

The thick, orange to red shaded bark provides it with a colorful cover. Interestingly, it's also a beetle magnet. Homeowners interested in using bark mulch for landscape purposes might want to stay clear of ponderosa pine bark mulch.

The cone, less spectacular looking than the tree, can partially be identified by the pointed tips on the bottom of each scale. The second picture shows the needles that grow in groups of three.

White Pine refers to a group of large growing pine trees characterized by needles growing in groups of five.

The Eastern White-Pine, eastern North America's tallest growing tree, gets overshadowed by the Sugar Pine, the western North American version, and the world's tallest growing pine tree.

White Pines also produce the world's largest pine cones. The Sugar Pine can produce cones reaching two feet in length.

Picture three shows a foot long cone from the Western White Pine (Pinus monticola), the state tree of Idaho.

Discussion of pine cones often gets placed within the broader definition, referring to pine cones as any seed bearing cone found on any trees in the larger Pinales order (Coniferales).

Two conifer families, pines (pinaceae) and cypress (cupressaceae), dominate the North American Landscape, with names such as larch, cedar, spruce and pine almost universally recognized.

Their cones vary in size and shape. Consider three additional pictures.

Picture four shows a cone from a spruce tree, a genus (Picea) in the larger pine family. The thin, papery scales of spruce cones distinguish them from other pine species.

Picture five shows a Douglas Fir cone, a predominantly Western pine genus (Pseudotsuga). Second only to the coastal redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) in size, Douglas Firs can reach heights of three hundred feet or more.

The three-pronged bracts that cover the sides of the cone, give it a distinct look and make it one of the easiest cones to identify.

Douglas Firs are the state tree of Oregon.

Five different Hemlock species (Tsuga) grow in North America. Western Hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla), the tallest species, grows up to two hundred feet in height, in its moisture rich Pacific Northwest coastal environment.

Like the Giant Sequoia, the Western Hemlock demonstrates the big is not always better cone concept. Picture six shows a cone, measuring around one inch, enlarged by a factor of three. The small, soft needles, have white stripes on the back.

The Western Hemlock is the state tree of Washington State.

© 2011-2012 Patricia A. Michaels