4. Pinus strobus L. (eastern white pine)
Pl. 21a,b,c,d; Map 76
Trees to 50 m tall. Trunks with grayish brown, fissured bark,
the fissures usually breaking into irregularly rectangular plates. Twigs pale
reddish brown, glabrous or with minute, pale hairs, not glaucous, turning gray
with age. Leaves in fascicles of 5, 8–13 cm long, with 1 vascular bundle,
flexible, persisting 2–3 years. Fascicle sheaths shed as the leaves mature.
Cones 8–20 cm long, yellowish brown, cylindrical, asymmetrical, usually
somewhat curved or arched, the scales not shiny, lacking spines. 2n=24.
Pollen shed March–May.
Introduced, reproducing locally in and around plantings nearly
throughout the state (native to the northeastern U.S. south to Georgia, west to Iowa; Canada, Mexico, Guatemala; widely introduced elsewhere in North America).
Widely planted as windbreaks, for erosion control and wildlife habitat, as an
ornamental, and as a plantation tree for lumber.