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Jack Pine

Jack Pine

The Tree
The Jack Pine is generally considered an inferior species. However, it is gradually growing into commercial importance as stands of the higher grade pines are depleted. New uses during war years also have brought it into prominence.Normally Jack Pine is a tree 25 to 70 feet high with trunk diameters of 8 to 24 inches. It grows rapidly but is comparatively short-lived,and in its growth range establishes itself very well after forest fires or heavy lumbering operations. It is thickly branched, and on young trees the branches remain on the stem almost to the ground, causing the wood to be very knotty. The bark is thin, with narrow shallow ridges, a scaly rough surface and a dull dark red-brown color. The needles grow in pairs, only about one inch long, and are narrow, flat, stubby, twisted, and sharply pointed, dark gray-green in color. The branchlets curve in horn-like fashion. The cones which are oblong-conical, curved, with thick scales, stand erect and close to the twig, are from one and a half to two inches long and one-half
to three quarters inch in diameter when closed; these cones ripen the second season but open unevenly, remain closed for several years and may remain on the tree for many years. The tree is easily identified by the numerous small crooked branches beginning close to the tree base, and by its twin. short, stiff and sharp needles and small curved cones clinging to the tough branches.
Common Names in Use
Jack Pine(Mich., Minn., Wis., Ontario)
Gray Pine (Vt., Minn., Mich., trade)
Black Jack Pine (Wis.)
Hudson Bay Pine (trade)
Black Pine (Minn.)
“Juniper” (Canada)
Banksian Pine (lit.)
Northern Scrub Pine (lit.)
Canada Horncone
Pine (Calif., lit.)
Princess Pine (Ontario)
Check Pine
Cypress (Quebec and Hudson Bay)
Scrub Pine (Me., Vt., N.Y., Wis., Mich., Minn., Ontario)
Sir Joseph Banks Pine (Eng.)
Jack Pine Tree Bark

Jack Pine Cone

Growth Range
The growth range of Jack Pine extends from Nova Scotia and Quebec to Mackenzie, throughout northern New England, northeastern New York and to the Lake States of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois and Indiana.

The Wood
Jack Pine wood is brittle but comparatively weak, light in weight, soft in texture and close-grained. The heartwood is a light brown-tan with a thick whitish sapwood. Its workability is similar to other pines.
99. Pinus Banksiana (Lambert) by Romeyn B. Hough

Uses
It now has important commercial use as paper pulp. The numerous knots make it useful for “knotty pine" interior finishes. Increasing amounts of lumber are produced from Jack Pine. It resembles Red Pine, but is more knotty. This lumber is now used for boxes, crates, siding, rough construction and slack cooperage.
Bibliography
Shelley E. Schoonover (American Woods) 1951 (Watling & Co. ) Santa Monica, CA 
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• pine
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John Morris

April 22Apr 22

Longleaf Pine

Longleaf Pine

The Tree
The Longleaf Pine is one of the outstanding pines of the southern forests and one of the four southern yellow pines. It is a straight tree 100 to 120 feet tall with a trunk 24 to 36 inches in diameter. Limbs are comparatively sparse and open. The trunk is high and clear for nearly two-thirds the height of the tree. The bark is lightly furrowed into broad scales and is of an orange-brown color. It is conspicuous by its shiny flexible needles, 8 to 18 inches long, dark green in color, with three in a cluster, which drop off in two years. The name Longleaf is given the tree because of its very long needles. The cinnamon colored cones are 5 to 10 inches long with thick scales, forming in clusters of several cones each. The tree is subject to attack by the Southern Pine beetle and other insects and fungus diseases. The “razorback” hog is very fond of the young tender roots.
Common Names in Use
Longleaf Pine (trade)
Broan Pine (Tenn.)
Broom Pine (lit.)
Fat Pine (South U.S.)
Florida Longleaf Yellow Pine (trade)
Florida Longleaved Pine (Atlantic region)
Florida Pine (Atlantic region)
Florida Yellow Pine (Atlantic reg.)
Georgia Heart Pine (general)
Georgia Longleaved Pine (Atlantic region)
Georgia Pine (general, Del. region)
Georgia Pitch Pine (Atlantic region)
Georgia Yellow Pine (Atlantic)
Hard Pine (Ala., Miss., La.)
Heart Pine(N.C. and So. Atlantic region)
Longleaf Pitch Pine (Atlantic reg.)
Longleaved Pine (Va., N.C., S.C., Ga., Ala., Fla., Miss., La., Tex.)
Longleaved Yellow Pine (trade and Atlantic region.)
Longstraw Pine (Atlantic region)
North Carolina Pitch Pine (Va., N.C.)
Pitch Pine (Atlantic region)
Rosemary Pine (N.C.)
Southern Hard Pine (general)
Southern Heart Pine (general)
Southern Pine (N.C., Ala., Miss., La., and trade)
Southern Pitch Pine (general)
Southern Yellow Pine (general and trade)
Texas Longlcaved Pine (Atlantic region)
Texas Yellow Pine (Atlantic region)
Turpentine Pine (N.C.)
Yellow Pine (Del., N.C., S.C., Ala., Fla., La., Tex., and trade)
Longleaf Pine Tree Bark

Longleaf Pine Cones, usually three in a bunch

Growth Range
The growth range of Longleaf Pine extends from the southeastern coastal plain of Virginia through North and South Carolinas, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and eastern Texas.
The Wood
Longleaf Pine wood is very resinous, hard, stiff, straight but uneven-grained, medium-textured, strong and durable. Care must be exercised in working with tools. The heartwood is a beautiful light reddish-tan to orange-brown while the sapwood is thin and nearly white. The growth rings are plainly visible. It nails hard but holds nails and screws satisfactorily. When properly seasoned the wood stays in place very well. It is one of the few pines having a pronounced figure. Quite frequently a beautiful blister figure is found in Longleaf Pine.
Uses
This is one of the important naval stores trees in the United States, from which is derived large quantities of turpentine and rosin. A “face” is made by chipping away the bark and collecting the resinous sap; also, the chips from subsequent faces are distilled for naval stores. It is also an important lumber tree for heavy general construction, railroad car construction, ties, piles, poles, ship building, flooring, interior finish, wainscoting, sash, frames, agricultural implements, cooperage, and cheap furniture. Some quantities of it are also used for paper pulp.
Bibliography
Shelley E. Schoonover (American Woods) 1951 (Watling & Co. ) Santa Monica, CA 

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John Morris

April 30Apr 30

Slash Pine

Slash Pine

The Tree
The Slash Pine grows rapidly and is one of the most important and profitable of our southern yellow pines The name "slash" is given the tree because it grows most favorably in low hummocks of swamps called "slashes." It resembles the Ponderosa Pine in many respects although it is not as large a tree. The tree grows 80 to 150 feet in height with a fine high clear trunk 24 to 36 inches in diameter, breast high. The bark is relatively thin, broken into irregular scales, and a reddish-brown to orange color. The needles are 8 to 12 inches long, a dark lustrous green color, with two or three in a bundle forming clusters at the ends of the twigs. The needles of Slash Pine are longer than the Loblolly Pine but shorter than the Longleaf Pine. They remain on the tree for two seasons. The cones are egg shaped three to six inches long and are a glossy leathery brown color, very compact with short spines at the end of each scale of the cone, a peculiar characteristic of the Slash Pine. It is one of the best looking pines and is used to a large extent for ornamental planting and roadside beautification. Because this tree thrives best in moist areas it suffers lightly from forest fires but is susceptible to damage from red heart rot.
Slash Pine Cones

Slash Pine Bark

Common Names in Use
Slash Pine (Ala., Miss.,Ga., Fla.)
Bastard Pine (Fla., Miss., Ala., in part)
Cuban Pine
Meadow Pine (Fla., eastern Miss. in part)
Pitch Pine (Fla.)
Saltwater Pine (Fla.)
She Pitch Pine (Ga)
She Pine (Ga., Fla.)
Spruce Pine (southern Ala.)
Southern Pine (trade)
Swamp Pine (Fla., Miss., Ala. in part)
Yellow Slash Pine
Growth Range
The growth range of Slash Pine extends from the southern part of South Carolina westward through southern Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and southeastern Louisiana, and southward through Florida, and is also found in the West Indies and Central America. This tree grows best on low, poorly drained flats near bays and swamps.

The Wood
The heartwood is a rich orange to light brown or tan color with moderately thick light yellowish tinged sapwood. It is very heavy, the heaviest of all the pines, very stiff, strong, hard, straight-grained, uniform in texture and very resinous. It has no prominent figure. It nails hard, glues well and shrinks moderately.
Pinus Caribaea (Morelet) by Romeyn B. Hough - Plate 125.

Uses
Slash Pine outranks all other southern pines in the production of naval stores, pine oils, etc. When treated with creosote it is used extensively for posts and poles. The wood is used for heavy general construction, ship building, sheathing and other common lumber uses where a high resin content is not objectionable. Considerable quantities of the wood especially of the younger trees are used for paper pulp.
Bibliography
Shelley E. Schoonover (American Woods) 1951 (Watling & Co. ) Santa Monica, CA 

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• pine
• pinus
• softwood

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John Morris

July 5Jul 5

Eastern Larch

Eastern Larch

The Tree
Tamarack or Eastern Larch is one of the four softwoods species (Larches and Baldcypress) that shed their needles each fall. It is a straight slender tree 40 to 70 feet tall and 12 to 20 inches in diameter. It generally grows in swampy locations. The limbs begin almost at ground level, are almost horizontal, thin and curve upward slightly. The needles are feathery in appearance, a bright green in color, only about an inch long and grow in clusters along the small branches. These needles turn a yellowish or rust color in the autumn and fall off. The name “Ka-neh-tens,” meaning “the leaves fall” was given this tree by the Iroquois Indians. The small cones are a bright chestnut brown and form in clusters close to the small branchlets. At first the cone scales are opened slightly in the spring; after pollination they close into a compact ball until the seed ripens. The bark of the mature trees is a dark reddish brown, with shallow furrows and thin scales. The tree is especially susceptible to attack by the larch saw-fly.
Eastern Larch Pine Cones
cd
Eastern Larch Tree Bark

Common Names in Use
Tamarack (Me., N.H., Vt., Mass., R.I., N.J., N,Y,. Pa,. Ind,. Ill., Wis., Mich., Minn., Ohio, Ontario)
American Larch (Vt., Wis., nurserymen)
Black Larch (Minn.)
Epinette Rouge (Quebec)
Hacmack (lit)
Hackmatack (Me., N.H., Mass,. R.I., Del., Ill., Minn., Ontario )
Juniper (Me., New Brunswick to Hudson Bay)
Ka-neh-tens-- "The leaves fall" (Indians, N.Y.)
Larch (Vt., Mass., R.I., Conn., N.Y., N.J., Pa., Del., Wis., Minn., Ohio, Ontario)
Red Larch (Misch.)
Growth Range
The Tamarack ranges from Newfoundland and Labrador, west to Mackenzie and Alaska, south to Pennsylvania, Maryland, Illinois, Minnesota, and Alberta. It is strictly an eastern
and northern species and should not be confused with Western Larch, sometimes called Western Tamarack.
Eastern Larch Range Map

The Wood
The wood is coarse in texture, the heartwood being a yellowish to russet brown but without a pronounced reddish tinge. The sapwood is narrow and a creamy white color. It resembles hard pine and is moderately heavy, stiff, brittle, hard and strong, slivery, generally straight-grained but occasionally spiral-grained. Close fibers make Tamarack wood difficult to penetrate with preservatives. It works well with tools and has an oily or greasy feel in handling.
Uses
Tamarack lumber is used for rough, general construction, railroad ties and ship timbers. Having a straight stem, Tamarack is used extensively for telegraph and telephone poles. It is now used also for paper pulp. The large roots and the lower portion of the stump are sometimes used to hew "ship knees” used in keels of wooden ships.
Bibliography
Shelley E. Schoonover (American Woods) 1951 (Watling & Co. ) Santa Monica, CA 

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John Morris

July 7Jul 7

Western Larch

Western Larch

The Tree
The Western Larch is a tall, straight tree towering from 150 to 200 feet high with a trunk diameter up to five feet. It is free of branches for 60 to 100 feet making it an increasingly valuable forest tree. The branches are short, horizontal and sparsely covered with foliage. The needles, growing in clusters along the small branches, are short, pointed, triangular, and flat on their upper surface. They are a satiny pale green color. The Larch species (including Eastern Tamarack) shed their foliage each fall. Growing close along the branches are the egg-shaped cones, which are about one and a half inches long and one inch wide with slender bracts extending from each cone seed scale. The dull reddish cinnamon-brown bark of Western Larch has a striking appearance. It is three to six inches thick on mature trees, deeply furrowed and separates into rather small rather bright irregular scales. The tree withstands fire damage better than most forest trees but is susceptible to attack by fungi of various kinds, and by the larch saw-fly.
Western Larch Pine Cone

Western Larch Tree Bark

Common Names in Use
Western Larch (English and American trade; Mont.)
British Columbia Tamarack (B.C. trade)
Hackmatack
Great Western Larch (Calif., lit.)
Larch (Idaho, Wash., trade)
Montana Larch (trade)
Mountain Larch (trade)
Oregon Larch (Pacific coast trade)
Red American Larch
Tamarack (Oreg.)
Western Tamarack
Growth Range
The growth range of Western Larch extends from western Montana through northern Idaho, Washington and Oregon and into southeastern British Columbia, in mountain valleys and on slopes at elevations from 2,000 to 7,000 feet, attaining its best development in northern Idaho and western Montana.
Western Larch Range Map

The Wood
The heartwood of Western Larch is a reddish-tan or russet while the narrow sapwood is a yellowish-white to a pale straw-brown. The wood is moderately strong, stiff, medium heavy (it is the heaviest of all larch species and also the heaviest coniferous wood), fine straight-grained and coarse-textured. It splits easily, but is not slivery as is the Eastern Tamarack. Because the base trunk of the tree is subject to “shake” or disintegration along the growth rings, the largest log of the tree maybe left in the woods. The wood closely resembles the Douglas Fir but is far inferior and is not used for veneers. It is somewhat difficult to work with tools and does not hold paint well, but it is easily glued and easily stained and finished in natural color.
Western Larch Wood

Uses
This wood is used for dimension lumber of all kinds, some for interior finish, boat lumber, boxes, the cheaper grades of furniture, sash and doors, telephone and telegraph poles, railroad ties, posts, mine timbers. It is used to some extent for paper pulp in the manufacture of fiberboard and kraft wrapping paper. Some commercial use is made of the galactan gum extracted from the wood.
Bibliography
Shelley E. Schoonover (American Woods) 1951 (Watling & Co. ) Santa Monica, CA 

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• softwood

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John Morris

July 10Jul 10

White Spruce

White Spruce

The Tree
White Spruce is one of the three spruces, red, white and black, all commonly called Eastern Spruce. Ordinarily the White Spruce is a shapely tree 40 to 90 feet tall and 12 to 24 inches in diameter, with many branches which droop downward from the trunk, then turn up to form a beautiful cone-shaped tree tapering to a long, sharp crown. The needles are four-angled, short, pointed and grow profusely around the twigs and curve upward around the branches. They are a dark blue-green and when bruised give off an offensive odor which has given the tree the name “Skunk” and “Cat Spruce.” The cones are from one to one and a half inches long and cylindrical, and when mature are a glossy, light-muddy-brown color. After the seeds are released most of the cones drop from the tree; a few cling on the branches until spring. The tree suffers greatly from forest fire, probably because of its resinous exudations or “bleeding” and its thin bark. Much damage also occurs from fungi and insect attacks, the most conspicuous being the European sawfiy and the spruce bud worm.
White Spruce tree bark, thin and scaley

White Spruce female cone

White Spruce male pollen cone

Common Names in Use
White Spruce (Vt., N.H., Mass., N.Y., Wis., Mich., Minn., Ont., and trade)
Bog Spruce (New Eng.)
Blue Spruce (Me.)
Adirondack Spruce (trade) Eng, Ontario)
Canadian Spruce
Cat Spruce (Me., New Eng.)
Double Spruce (Vt.)
Eastern Spruce (trade-in part)
Pine (Hudson Bay)
Spruce (Vt.)
Skunk Spruce (Wis., Me., New Eng., Ontario)
Single Spruce (Me., Vt., Minn.)
Growth Range
The growth range of White Spruce extends from Newfoundland and Labrador to Alaska, south to British Columbia, western Montana, northern Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan, eastward throughout the northeastern States. A variety of White Spruce is also found in scattered stands in South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana and northern Washington. White Spruce thrives best on moist, well drained soils and along the banks of streams.
White Spruce Range Map

The Wood
The wood of the White Spruce is very uniform in texture, pale yellowish-white, straight-grained, soft and light in weight. It is easy to work, free from pitch and takes a good finish. It nails easily and holds nails and screws very well. In seasoning it shrinks moderately.
White Spruce, quarter-sawn and end grain

Uses
The White Spruce is a very important source of paper pulp because of the long fine quality of the fibers. The wood is also used for interior finish, boxes and crates, furniture, sash, doors, frames, dairy and poultry supplies, cabinets, general construction and is especially prized for sounding boards for musical instruments, canoe paddles and light oars.
Bibliography
Shelley E. Schoonover (American Woods) 1951 (Watling & Co. ) Santa Monica, CA 

File Attributions

• conifer
• softwood
• spruce

• 148 views

John Morris

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