Pitch pine

Leaves

Form

• Needles evergreen
• In bundles of 3
• Stiff, twisted, blunt-tipped
• Edges sharply toothed
• Bundle-sheath persistent

Length

• 7–12 cm

Colour

• Yellowish-green

Buds

Form

• Sharp-pointed, often resinous
• Scales loose, overlapping

Length

• About 1 cm

Colour

• Reddish-brown

Twigs

Form

• Stout, hairless
• Ridged and grooved
• Often in clusters along the trunk

Colour

• Greenish to orange or dark brown

Seed cones (mature)

Form

• Narrowly ovoid, short-stalked
• Scales thickened at the tips
• Bearing a rigid, curved, sharp spine

Length

• 5–9 cm

Timing

• Cones may open at maturity
• Remain closed until opened by fire, or open at irregular intervals
• Open cones remain on the tree for many years

Seeds

Form

• 3-angled

Length

• Seed 4–5 mm
• Seed wing 15–20 mm

Seedlings

Form

• 4–8 cotyledons, toothless

Bark

Form

• Smooth becoming scaly
• Furrowed into large, thick, irregular, flat-topped plates with age

Colour

• Reddish-brown, becoming dark grey with age

Wood

Texture

• Resinous

Morphology

• Coarse-grained

Size

Height

• To 20 m

Diameter

• To 30 cm

Maximum age

• 200 years

Tree form

Open-grown

Crown

• Irregular
• With many gnarled, drooping, often dead branches
• Covered with clusters of old weathered cones

Forest-grown

Trunk

• Straight, with little taper
• Often with clusters of closely packed leafy branchlets, bearing persistent seed cones that appear to be attached directly to the trunk

Crown

• Regular

Root system

• Deep, to 3 m
• Able to live and grow below the water table

Habitat

Site

• Harsh sites such as dry sand plains, gravelly slopes, rocky ridges, and swamps

Light tolerance

• Intolerant of shade

Associated species

• Grows in pure stands in areas subject to repeated forest fires
• Also mixed with other species in open stands

Range

Eastern Canada, restricted to sites along the St. Lawrence River