Guilford Pine Trees
There seem to be four major pine species in GuilfordCounty, with several minor species popping up here and there.
It’s fun to learn and notice the differences.
But what is it that makes a tree a pine tree?
First of all, pines are evergreens, that is, they keep their leaves all year round. Actually the leaves are not permanent, but they are not shed all at once at the coming of winter.
Second, pines have long narrow leaves we commonly call needles rather then leaves. Most pines have needles that come in bunches of two to five, the bunch being connected together at the stem end by a sheath.
Third, pines all have cones. These are the woody (as opposed to being pulpy) seed bearing fruits commonly called “pine cones.” The cones we think of as “pine cones” are the female or seed bearing cones. Pine trees are characterized by bearing uncovered seeds which when released from an open woody cone generally circle to the ground like maple keys. Kids commonly call these pine seeds “helicopters.” Pine trees are “gymnosperms,” that is, they produce “naked” seeds, or seeds without ovaries, seeds without surrounding fruits. Pine tree seeds are protected within the woody cone which is itself often covered with sharp scales to discourage animals from eating the seeds, though it is not unusual to see a cone stripped of scales and seeds by a hungry squirrel.
The very small male cones or catkin at the top of the pine tree produce the wind borne pollen that releases in the late spring covering and fertilizing the temporarily opened female cones below, as well as cars and parking lots and anything else nearby.
Fourth, pine trees tend to grow tall with straight trunks and limbs mostly higher in the tree in older trees.
Fifth, pines do not like shade. The are usually first to invade an abandoned field, although in our part of the piedmont many deciduous trees are quick to invade abandoned fields as well. Eventually over the course of a hundred years or more pines will become less dominant and hardwoods like oak and hickory more dominant in a forest. Being sun loving pines and are found more on sunny south facing slopes than shady north facing slopes.
There are many evergreen trees that have needles and cones that grow in GuilfordCounty that are not pines, such as firs, hemlocks, and spruces, which are often planted here. These are not only shaped differently as trees (more like “Christmas trees”), but have different kinds of needles and cones.
Hemlocks and firs have short flattened needles typically white underneath that grow singly out from the stems, usually along a flattened plane. They have small cones. The needles of spruce are four sided and grow all around the twig, that is, do not grow out in a flat spray from the twigs. Junipers, particularly the very common native “red cedar” have scale like leaves or needles, commonly grow on fence rows, and have a very bushy look, even in older specimens.
The four major pine species of pine tree in GuilfordCounty in estimated order of frequency are Virginia Pine, Short Leaf Pine, White Pine, and Loblolly Pine. On average there are more shortleaf and loblolly pines in the southeastern part of the county, and more Virginia and white pine in the northwestern part of the county. |
