LOBLOLLY PINE
Pinus taeda L.
Other Name: Old-field Pine.
Growth Form: Large tree sometimes over 125 feet tall; trunk diameter up to 2 feet; crown rounded.
Bark: Reddish-brown, divided into irregular plates.
Twigs: Slender, brown, becoming roughened.
Leaves: Needles in clusters of 3 or occasionally 2, stiff, up to 9 inches long, light green.
Flowers: Staminate crowded into several yellow spikes up to ½ inch long; pistillate crowded into 1 to several yellow clusters.
Fruit: Cones ovoid to oblong, mostly straight, up to 6 inches long, each scale comprising the cone with a short, sharp prickle; seeds rounded, up to ¼ inch long, with a wing up to 1 inch long.
Wood: Weak, brittle, coarse-grained, yellow-brown.
Uses: Pulpwood, construction.