General Landscape Uses:
Accent or specimen tree.
Availability:
Native plant nurseries in central and northern Florida.
Description: Medium to large tree with a open, irregular, broadly conical crown. Trunks erect, straight, to 2 feet or more in diameter, but usually much less in South Florida. Bark dark gray, furrowed, and broken into irregular plates. Needles in bundles of 3s, 8-10 inches long.
Dimensions: Typically 30-50 feet in height in South Florida; to 105 feet in Florida. Taller than broad.
Growth Rate: Moderate.
Range:
Southeastern United States west to Texas and south to Indian River, Glades and Lee counties. For a digitized image of Elbert Little's Florida range map, visit the
Exploring Florida website.
Map of select IRC data from peninsular Florida.
Map of suggested ZIP codes from South Florida north to southern Brevard, Osceola, Polk, and Pasco counties.
Map of ZIP codes with habitat recommendations from the Monroe County Keys north to Martin and Charlotte counties.
Habitats: Sandhills.
Soils: Moist, well-drained sandy soils, without humus.
Nutritional Requirements: Low; it grows in nutrient poor soils.
Salt Water Tolerance: Low; does not tolerate long-term flooding by salt or brackish water.
Salt Wind Tolerance: Low; salt wind may burn the leaves.
Drought Tolerance: High; does not require any supplemental water once established.
Light Requirements: Full sun.
Flower Color: Greenish turning brown.
Flower Characteristics: Cone. Pollination is by wind.
Flowering Season: All year.
Fruit: Brown cone.
Wildlife and Ecology: Provides moderate amounts of food and cover for wildlife.
Horticultural Notes: Can be grown from seed.
References: Nelson 2003, Schaefer & Tanner 1997
Comments: Seedlings resemble coarse clumps of grass. It may take 3-10 years to develop a trunk, after which growth is fairly rapid.
