General Landscape Uses:
Specimen tree.
Availability:
Commonly available at native plant nurseries in northeast and central Florida.
Description: Tall, single trunked pine with an open, rounded crown. Needles borne in dense clusters in groups of 3. Needles 3-6 inches long. Small to medium cones persisting on the tree. Reddish brown bark furrowed in what appear as vertical lines up the trunk.
Dimensions: Typically 60 to 100 feet in height. Up to 120 feet in height in the Florida Panhandle.
Growth Rate: Fast.
Range:
Southern United States south to Hernando to Brevard counties. Populations also present in Hillsborough and De Soto 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: Uplands and well drained floodplains.
Soils: Moist to dry, well-drained sandy or limestone soils, with or without humusy top layer.
Nutritional Requirements: Moderate; can grow in nutrient poor soils, but needs some organic content to thrive.
Salt Water Tolerance: Low; does not tolerate long-term flooding by salt or brackish water.
Salt Wind Tolerance: Moderate; grows near salt water, but is protected from direct salt spray by other vegetation.
Drought Tolerance: Moderate to high; plants growing in extremely dry soils may die during extended periods of drought.
Light Requirements: Full sun.
Flower Color: Reddish brown
Flower Characteristics: Cone
Fruit: Redish Cone
Wildlife and Ecology: Provides food and cover for wildlife.
Horticultural Notes: Susceptible to southern pine beetles and fusiform rust disease.
References: Wunderlin and Hansen (
2011), Huegel 2010
Comments: We have been adding data for this species for central and northern Florida and welcome any feedback or review. If you would like to contribute information or images, please contact George Gann via the IRC staff page.
