AMERICAN FORESTRY 



Vol. XXII 



SEPTEA4BER 1916 



No. 273 



Shortleaf Pine 



Identification and Characteristics 

 By Samuel B. Detwiler 



THE pine forests of the southern United States long 

 have furnished more hmiber under the name of 

 Southern Yellow Pine than any other closely 

 related group of timber trees in this country. Shortleaf 

 pine (Piniis cchinata) produces more than one-fifth of 

 the lumber derived from the five southern " Yellow Pines '' 

 and promises to be even more prominent in the future 

 when systematic forest management in the United States 

 is more fully developed. 



Shortleaf pine 

 is found in a terri- 

 tor}' covering more 

 than 440,000 square 

 miles and is com- 

 mercially impor- 

 tant in an area of 

 about two - thirds 

 this size. Its region 

 of natural growth 

 extends from south- 

 eastern New York 

 through the south- 

 ern limits of Penn- 

 sylvania, Ohio, In- 

 diana, Illinois, Mis- 

 souri, and south- 

 ward to eastern 

 Texas and northern 

 Florida. No other 

 American pine is 

 so widely distrib- 

 uted. It makes its 

 best growth at ele- 

 vations of 400 to 

 1500 feet, but ex- 

 tends from sea 

 level to an altitude 

 of 3000 feet in the 

 Southern Appa- 

 lachian Mountains. 



Shortleaf pine 

 grows to moderate 

 proportions for a 

 member of the pine 

 family, rarelv at- 



TYPIGAL STAND OF SHORTLEAF PINE 



This photograph, published by courtesy of the Southern Soft Pine Bureau, shows a first-class stand of 

 shortleaf, the size of the trees being indicated by comparison with the man standing by one on the right. 



taining 4 feet in diameter and 130 feet in height. The 

 ordinary size of mature trees is 2 or 3 feet across the 

 stump, with a total height of 80 to 100 feet. Because this 

 species can grow rapidly in height when young trees 

 are crowded together in dense forests, trees in the woods 

 have long, clean, straight trunks that taper slightly 

 until they branch into small, rounded or somewhat 

 pointed tops. The exceptionally clear, straight trunks 

 furnish the quality of logs most desired by lumbermen. 



Trees growing in 

 the open have 

 branches low on 

 the trunk, forming 

 a conical crown. 

 The lower branches 

 droop slightly and 

 are seldom more 

 than 20 or 25 feet 

 long. The straight, 

 gently tapering 

 trunk and narrow, 

 compact, well-pro- 

 portioned head en- 

 able the trained eye 

 to distinguish from 

 a distance the 

 shortleaf pine from 

 the broader topped 

 loblolly and long- 

 leaf pines. 



Recent scientific 

 studies have shown 

 that up to fifteen 

 years of age the 

 tops of shortleaf 

 pines in dense 

 stands have an out- 

 ward growth of 

 one foot for each 

 inch in diameter 

 growth of the 

 trunk at breast 

 height. In later 

 life the increase in 

 the spread of the 

 513 



