Eastern White Pine

Eastern White Pine (Pinus strobus), also called North American White Pine, Northern White Pine, Soft Pine, White Pine.

Eastern white pine is an evergreen conifer tree in the Pinaceae (pine) family. This pine’s origin is in the northeastern United States and Canada. It may grow 50 to 80 feet tall and 20 to 40 feet wide.

Eastern white pine grows naturally in high, dry, sandy and rocky ridges and is tolerant of a wide range of soil conditions. It prefers full sun; moist, well-drained, fertile sandy loams; and cool, humid climates. It is intolerant of many air pollutants such as sulfur dioxide and ozone, salts, and alkaline soils.

This pine is an important timber tree (perhaps more so in the 18th and 19th centuries than now) valued for its lightweight, straight-grained wood. It is utilized as a Christmas tree in large areas such as parks, commercial areas, and estates. The pine cones are sold as tree decorations for models, model railroading, and Christmas decorations.

Previously known as: Leucopitys strobus; Strobus strobus.

Identification

Bluish-green needles (3" to 5" long) are flexible, soft to the touch, and appear in bundles of five (5 per fascicle). Each needle has 3-5 white lines of stomata on two surfaces of the needle. The needle clusters are deciduous, falling off after approximately two years.

The bark is smooth and green with some lighter patches in young trees. As the tree ages, the bark turns reddish brown to dark gray with prominent finely-scaly, rounded, long ridges and darker furrows.

No flowers, cones. In spring, cylindrical, yellow, male strobili, and the female strobili are light green tinged with red that matures in clusters appear in April.

No fruits. Cylindrical, brown, resinous cones on the Eastern White Pine (4-8" long) are usually not produced until the tree reaches 5-10 years old. They fully mature by the summer of the second season, releasing seeds in July and August and persisting through September. The cones are stalked, curved, and have white lines on the lower side, the scales lacking spines. Often curved that browns with age. Umbo is blunt and obtuse.

Habitat and cultural conditions

Light: Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day); Partial Shade (Direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours). Soil texture: High Organic Matter; Loam (Silt); Sand. Soil pH: Acid (<6.0). Drainage: Good Drainage; Moist; Occasionally Dry.

Uses and significance

This plant is an attractive, ornamental, landscape tree, singly and in hedges, borders, or woodland areas. Alternatively, plant it in a native, butterfly, pollinator, or nighttime garden, as it will attract butterflies and other pollinators, songbirds, and small mammals.

Used for tar, furniture, christmas tree and bark used as astringent and expectorant or antiseptic.

This plant supports Imperial Moth (Eacles imperialis) larvae which have one brood per season and appear from April-October in the south. Adult Imperial Moths do not feed. Its white pine seeds are favored by black bears, rabbits, red squirrels, and many birds. The bark is eaten by mammals such as beavers, porcupines, rabbits, and mice. The tree also serves as a shelter for many birds and small mammals.

Insects, diseases, and other problems

Fire Risk: This plant has a high flammability rating and should not be planted within the defensible space of your home. Select plants with a low flammability rating for the sites nearest your home.

It is susceptible to blights, canker, and rusts, especially white pine blister rust, which is usually fatal. Insect problems include white pine weevil, bark beetles, white pine shoot borer, Zimmerman moth larvae, pine sawfly, scale, and aphids. Spider mites are occasional visitors in some areas. This tree is susceptible to wind damage.

Cultivars / varieties

• 'Alba' — young needles are whitish-green in the spring, green during the summer
• 'Fastigiata' — columnar, 40 feet tall, and 8 feet wide
• 'Nana' — Dwarf form, slow-growing
• 'Pendula' — Weeping branches, semi-dwarf
• 'Sea Urchin' — dwarf shrub, compact, and needles are thin and blue
• 'Umbraculifera' — Dwarf White Pine

Plant details

Further reading

• N.C. Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox: Pinus strobus — primary source for the plant details above