Pine Trees

[Bill Gaiche]

Will someone tell me what kind of pine trees do we have in northeast Oklahoma? I am sure this has been asked before. Thanks in advance.

[RynSmith]

I'm pretty sure the only native is shortleaf pine (Pinus echinata), don't know if people plant loblolly that far north or not...

[Texas Ranger]

 I would go with shortleaf, but, Scotch pine and a few others will grow in that area, just like they do in Missouri.

[Bill Gaiche]

Do these trees make good lumber? Say for a new build for a kiln. Exterior ship lap and framing.

[Okrafarmer]

Do these trees make good lumber? Say for a new build for a kiln. Exterior ship lap and framing.

They should do quite well for framing. Probably adequate for the shiplap. They are in the yellow pine group and are used around here extensively for framing lumber. Short leaf pines have very short needles, for a pine. In our area they are about 2-4" long. Loblollys have longer needles, 6-10" long. Just don't use white pine for structure. You probably don't have that in your area, but white pines can be determined easily because they are the only ones that have 5 needles per bundle instead of 2 or 3 as they yellow pines have. White pines are much weaker and are typically used for finish wood, although I believe whole trunks used to be used for ship masts centuries ago. . . . .