White Pine or Eastern White Pine

(Pinaceae - Pine Family)

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• Form
  • large evergreen specimen tree or shade tree
  • maturing at about 80' tall by 40' wide under urban conditions, but much larger in its native habitats
  • upright pyramidal growth habit in youth with a strong central leader (having distinctly whorled branching all the way up the trunk), but with a flat-topped or scalloped crown at maturity
  • rapid growth rate

• Culture
  • full sun to partial shade
  • performs best in full sun in moist, rich, acidic, well-drained soils, and suffers under conditions of urban stress, resulting in decreased vigor, less branching, shorter needles, and noticeable foliage chlorosis
  • propagated primarily from seeds, but also from rooted cuttings or rooted fascicles (leaf bundles)
  • Pine Family, with White Pine Blister Rust (affecting the bark) being the primary disease, and White Pine Weevil (affecting the terminal shoots) being the primary pest
  • abundantly available in ball and burlap form
  • not at all urban tolerant, especially to Winter salt spray, pollution, compacted soils, poorly drained soils, clay soils, and alkaline pH soils (perhaps the worst evergreen for showing chlorotic foliage as a direct result of iron and nitrogen deficiency, as a result of poor uptake of these nutrients in alkaline pH soils)
  • usually sheared during nursery production (or Christmas tree production) for a fuller, more dense appearance at transplanting; however, due to its rapid growth once re-established, it will quickly emerge from its shearing-induced formality, and look somewhat "out of control" for several years following transplanting
  • White Pine is rather sensitive to being transplanted in Autumn, and care should be taken to amend the soil, fertilize, water thoroughly, mulch adequately, consider application of an anti-dessicant during early Winter, and especially avoid Winter salt spray, to enhance survival chances during the first Winter, if transplanting cannot be delayed until Spring

• Foliage
  • bluish-green to medium-green needles occur as five per bundle, to 4" long, very thin, and not stiff
  • evergreen and persisting for two years on the stems, with needles turning an obvious chartreuse to golden-brown in Autumn and abscising immediately, causing great concern among homeowners who think that the tree is dying

• Flowers
  • monoecious, with staminate flowers in clustered yellow catkins, and pistillate flowers as pink immature cones, in April and early May and ornamentally insignificant

• Fruits
  • 6" narrow green cones mature to brown with silvery tips in the second year, opening up while becoming slightly curving, then abscising
  • one of the best cones for decorative arrangements, due to its length and silvery tips

• Twigs
  • thin and grayish-green, growing into smooth branches of the same color
  • branches occur in a distinctly whorled arrangement from the straight trunk, and conveniently demarcate the amount of each year's vertical growth
  • although whorled branching is characteristic of most evergreen trees in general, it is most easily observed in White Pine, due to the clear separation of consecutive whorled limbs in the tree canopy, as a result of its rapid growth rate and horizontal orientation of the mature limbs

• Trunk
  • the gray-green smooth bark of youth becomes gray-brown furrows and plates with age, mostly concealed if the tree has never been limbed-up
  • white sap streaks may be noticeable at times on the bark

• ID Summary
  • a strong central leader, upright narrow pyramidal growth habit, rapid growth rate, distinctive whorled branching, and five blue-green needles in each fascicle are characteristic of this tree when it is healthy
  • severely chlorotic foliage, stunted growth, and sap oozing from the trunk are often present in urban environments, and are signs that the tree is under conditions of abiotic stress and/or biotic attack

• Function
  • large evergreen tree that may serve as a specimen, group planting, windbreak, or visual screen
  • improperly utilized as a screen planting near major roadways, where Winter salt spray can annually damage or kill the outer needles and outer stems on the side next to the road

• Texture
  • fine texture (bold texture in youth due to sparse lateral branching, if unsheared)
  • average to thick density with age (open density in youth if unsheared)

• Assets
  • rapid growth and re-establishment, becoming a large evergreen tree
  • bluish-green fine-textured foliage
  • symmetrical upright pyramidal growth habit in youth
  • relatively inexpensive (due to rapid growth at nurseries)
  • becoming scalloped (or flat-topped) and picturesque with advanced age

• Liabilities
  • not at all urban tolerant (to poor soils, compacted soils, alkaline soils, pollution, drought, windswept areas, and especially Winter salt spray)
  • foliage becomes very chlorotic (yellowing) in alkaline pH soils (intolerant of a non-acidic soil environment)
  • loses its formal, narrow, pyramidal shape with advanced age (but hey, we all lose our figure with age, don't we?)
  • quickly grows out of its densely-sheared outline when transplanted (unless this increasingly difficult cultural practice is maintained)

• Habitat
  • zones 3 to 8
  • native to Eastern North America (especially in the mountainous regions of Appalachia, New England, and Southern Canada)

• Alternates
  • large evergreen trees for specimen, texture, color, or windbreak function (Abies concolor, Picea abies, Picea pungens, Pinus nigra, Pseudotsuga menziesii, Tsuga canadensis, etc.)

• Variants
  • Pinus strobus 'Blue Shag' - a true dwarf shrub with intensely blue-green to blue-silver foliage, maturing at 2.5' tall and 3.5' wide
  • Pinus strobus 'Fastigiata' - a narrow, upright vased to ascending columnar form, with branches that hug close to the central leader in youth, becoming more spreading with age, maturing at 60' tall by 20' wide
  • Pinus strobus 'Nana' - a compact shrub form, to 4' tall by 7' wide, and often grafted onto a standard, with blue-green foliage
  • Pinus strobus 'Pendula' - a weeping form, to 15' tall by 20' wide, with more or less horizontal branches that are pendulous to the ground

• Translation
  • Pinus is the Latin name for pine.
  • strobus translates as "coned", and is also the Latin name for a tree that is tapped for its resin.

• Purpose
  • White Pine is a fine-textured, rapidly-growing evergreen tree with a symmetrical, narrow pyramidal shape in its youth and middle age.

• Summary
  • Pinus strobus is known as a bluish-green foliaged pyramidal tree with distinctly whorled branching, valued as both a climax forest timber tree (valued for its use as lumber, telephone poles, or pulp) in the Northeastern United States, as well as a landscape tree for use as a focal point, screen, or windbreak, but not well-adapted to urban stresses.