Pinus Linnaeus. Pine.

Key to Pinus

A genus of about 110 species, trees, of the Northern Hemisphere, south to Central America. The classification of subgenera, sections, and subsections follows Zeb et al. (2019).

The State Tree of North Carolina is the “Pine,” the species left (artfully and politically?) ambiguous.

ID notes:Young saplings generally have shorter needles than larger saplings and mature trees; measurements in the key are those of mature trees. Seedlings have needles single, rather than fascicled; see Krings (2020) for information on distinguishing seedlings of P. taeda, P. echinata, and P. virginiana. “Cones” in the key below refers to mature (brown) female (seed) cones.

Ref: Duncan & Duncan (1988); Gernandt et al. (2005); Kral (1993) In Flora of North America Editorial Committee (1993b); Krings (2020); Page In Kramer & Green (1990); Pile et al. (2018); Price, Liston, & Strauss (1998); Richardson (1998); Silba (2011); Wang & Wang (2014); Ward (1963); Zeb et al. (2019). Show full citations.

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