Is this Loblolly Pine?

[Weekend_Sawyer]

I have a few of these trees on my lot, biggest one is about 24" DBH.

This one has quite a bit of lean to it, The White oak that was beside it was killed by gypsy moths.


Here's a closeup of the bark.

[Tom]

That far north, I would doubt it but the bark does look a little like a young lobololly.

See if this link helps:

http://www.cnr.vt.edu/dendro/dendrology/syllabus/ptaeda.htm

[DanG]

The bark looks right, and the limb structure looks right. The needles should be kinda short...3-6 inches, and the cones tend to be smallish.
According to the USFS site Don posted last week, the Loblolly will range as far north as N. New Jersey.

[DanG]

Make that S. New Jersey.

Tom, I have a loblolly that is leaning just like the one in the picture above. I've gotta cut it down to make room for the house, if we ever get under way with our plans.  Do you think I will have a lot of problems with reaction wood when I saw it up?  The tree is straight as a pipe, but it just leans about 20 degrees.

[Minnesota_boy]

Reaction wood won't be much of a problem if you cut it in 16 inch lengths.

Any lumber cut from such a leaning tree should bend.  If I know what way the tree leaned, I cut it so the bend is sideways instead of edgewise.  If the pieces aren't too thick, they can be straightened out as you use them, most of the time.  I've seen some hump a  pile up though.

[Tom]

A lot depends on how much of the trees life was spent leaning over, I guess.  chances are that there will be some stresses but you'll know which way to cut it as soon as you see the heart.  The reaction wood that will cause the most trouble will be  orange in color and on the underside of the lean.  It tends to make brittle lumber.  There's ways to cut it to make decent lumber though so  don't throw it out till you've tried to fill all your needs with it first.   If it doesn't make 2x6's it might make posts.  If it doesn't make posts, it might make panelling.  Ya never know till you stick the blade into it.

[Tom]

That tree that weekend sawyer posted looks like pocosin also. Pocosin, pond pine or black pine is a scrub looking pine down here that sometimes reaches timber size.  It is the only pine that I know of in the southeast that stump sprouts.  You can tell it pretty accurately by its tell-tale growth of needles from the side of the trunk where no limbs exist.  

It may be that it grows that far north and I would suspect this tree to be of that species.   I didn't know it before but found out today that it is considered a sub-species of  pitch pine or Pinus rigida.  That is commonly of a more northern range than I am familiar with and may be a reason that it could be pocosin as well.

If it is pocosin and if the wood is similar to the pocosin that we have in the south, then, it will produce inferior lumber.  the wood will probably be fairly wide grained (not necessarilly so) and will have great amounts of growth stresses.  It is not only not a preferred wood down here but is discouraged for use.   I usually find myself making posts from it and even then they will occasionally "jump" off of the mill.

The bark and tree shape both favor pocosin, or pond pine.

[RMay]

Weekend Sawyer lob. has 3 needles together they will be 5 to 7 in. long . It looks like shortleaf pine to me . They will have 2 needles 3 to 5 in. long . Cut your logs 8 to 10 ft. it will mill better .

[DanG]

Tom, I think I'll let that tree take me to school. I'll cut boards from every angle, mark them, then see what happens as they dry. Seems like a good investment, to me. The tree is tall, but only about 14" dbh.

[Weekend_Sawyer]

 Here's a little more info,
There are no needles growing out of the side of the trunk
There are 2 needles 2 to 3 inches long, the cones are small, about twice the size of a golf ball. All of the big ones have no lower limbs.

[Don P]

I ran across this page yesterday while looking for Harold's hat.
It's one Tom posted awhile back on pines, a good bookmark.

http://www2.ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/project/dendrology/index/titleb.html

[L. Wakefield]

   OK, so, also- as I was driving along the roads down here in Fla around Polk Co and east of there, I have seen a lot of 'longleaf' pine- that is, the needles are WAY long. But on some they stick out 360* like a spiky ball- but one others- especially closer to the coast- the needles are relaxed and hang down. Is this a difference in species or in growing condition? I regret that I was hammerlane and did not stop to do up close examination at this point. (I have about 12 more hours of playtime..)

  In Highland Hammock yesterday all the longleaf pines were the spiky type, not the relaxed type.  lw

[Tom]

The needles that were so long that they drooped were Long Leaf.  The needles that you describe as spikey are probably Slash Pine or could be a Long Leaf/Slash hybrid.  Hybrids are commonly found in the pines in Florida because of the overlapping flowering periods.  Long Leaf is usually found crossed with Slash or with Loblolly.  When it is a Loblolly cross, it is called Sonderegger and is the only named SYP cross.

[Wudman]

I'm a little slow to visit this thread, but I would venture to say that the tree pictured is a Virginia Pine (P. virginiana).  The needles would be short, in fascicles of 2 or 3, twisted, and divergent (ie.....v-shaped).  This tree tends to hold dead limbs on the lower bole, but will prune in mixed stands of older wood.  Younger stems tend to hold limbs to the ground.  The tree is inferior in strength characteristics and is frowned upon for framing lumber.  However, I think it makes beautiful paneling.

Wudman