ISU Extension News

Extension Communications
3614 Administrative Services Building
Ames, Iowa 50011-3614
(515) 294-9915

11/21/02

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contacts:
Linda Naeve, Reiman Gardens, (515) 294-2710, lnaeve@iastate.edu
Jean McGuire, Continuing Education and Communication Services, (515) 294-7033, jmcguire@iastate.edu

Wispy White Pines Provide Tall Elegance

By Linda Naeve
Extension Coordinator
Reiman Gardens

We are approaching the season when evergreens can be seen nearly everywhere. They are used as Christmas trees and garlands on banisters and in wreaths and holiday arrangements. You may soon be looking for that perfect Christmas tree, so this week's Reiman's Pick is an evergreen tree often used for a holiday tree or in holiday decorations – Eastern white pine, Pinus strobus.

Eastern white pine is often referred to simply as white pine. It is an easy evergreen to identify. Like other members in the pine genus, its needles grow in bundles. White pine needles are four-to six-inches long and are clustered in bundles of five. Unlike many pines, its needles are not sharp and stiff. The soft, flexible white pine needles make it easy to handle when placing it in a Christmas tree stand or working around it in the garden. White pine needles only stay on the trees for two or three years. In the fall, the older needles turn yellow and brown before dropping off the tree. This seasonal needle drop can be quite dramatic and cause some gardeners to be concerned, but it is a natural occurrence that results in the open, airy appearance often associated with white pines.

The cones on white pines are another distinguishing characteristic. They are five to seven inches long with large, widely spaced scales. They exude a sticky resin that makes them look as though they have been frosted with a thin layer of icing.

White pines are native east of the Mississippi River and eastern Iowa and parts of Minnesota. It tolerates many soil conditions except compacted, alkaline soils. White pine prefers moist sandy or loamy soil, but will grow in somewhat dry areas. It is a beautiful landscape tree when given plenty of room to grow.
White pine is one of the fastest growing landscape pines, reaching heights of 50 to 75 feet in 25 years. Young white pine trees in the landscape are conical, or Christmas tree-shaped. As they grow, they become more round-topped with wide, wispy branches along the middle portion. In native forests, however, where they grow close together and among other tree species, white pine trunks are usually straight and void of branches on the lower two-thirds or more of their height.

Due to its tall, straight trunk, the white pine played an important role in our country's history. Native Americans used the inner bark for food, and colonists used it for a key ingredient in cough remedies. In the early 1600s, the extensive pine forests of the northeast provided England with the "King's wood." Large, old white pines were referred to as "King's wood" because the King of England insisted they be used as the masts for his navy's ships.

Today, white pines are popular for Christmas trees because of their soft, blue green needles and wispy growth. However, the pliable branches do not support heavy ornaments. Besides being used for Christmas trees, white pine trees have other economic value. They are grown commercially for lumber. It is valued as a softwood lumber because of its uniform grain. It is used for window sashes and frames, doors, moldings, trim and cabinetwork.

If you don't have room in your landscape for an evergreen that may grow 30 feet wide, you might want to consider a dwarf white pine. Pinus strobus 'Nana' is a popular dwarf white pine that forms a broad, dense bush that grows very slowly to a height of three feet and width of two to three feet. The weeping white pine is a novelty in any garden. The droopy, weeping form of Pinus strobus 'Pendula' makes it a "living sculpture" in the landscape.

The white pines at Iowa State University's Reiman Gardens are easy to spot because they add color in fall and winter when the flowerbeds are empty. You can see white pines near the Campanile in the Margaret Penkhus Campanile Garden. They can even be seen at night, as part of Reiman Gardens' holiday light display, which includes 50,000 lights.

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Editors: A color photo, suitable for publication, are available at right. Click on the thumbnail photo to go to the fullsized photo. The fullsize photo is 424K.

Caption: Wispy white pine (Pinus strobus).

 


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