6. Pinus virginiana Mill (scrub pine) Pl.
20i,j; Map 78
Trees to 10(–18) m tall. Trunks with orangish brown to grayish
brown bark, the surface breaking into scaly plates. Twigs purplish brown,
glabrous, often glaucous, turning gray to reddish brown with age. Leaves in
fascicles of 2, 4–8 cm long, with 2 vascular bundles, flexible, persisting 3–4
years. Fascicle sheaths persistent. Cones 3–7 cm long, reddish brown, narrowly
ovoid, symmetrical, not curved or arched, the scales not shiny, with a slender,
straight, needlelike spine from a thickened base 1–3 mm long near the tip. 2n=24.
Pollen shed March–April.
Introduced, escaped from plantings mostly in the Ozark and
Ozark Border Divisions (eastern U.S. west to Kentucky). Widely planted for
wildlife habitat and windbreaks, and as an ornamental. Escaping from
cultivation along roads and in dry to mesic upland forests, less commonly at
the edges of dolomite glades.
Of the pine species introduced in Missouri, this is the only
one to escape from cultivation to form new populations at some distance from
the originally planted trees. In its native range, which approaches
southeastern Missouri in western Kentucky, scrub pine is considered a weedy
species that colonizes fire-damaged areas. The trees are sometimes used for
pulpwood