Plant of the Week
White Pine
Latin: Pinus strobus
As homeowners head out to garden centers around the state in search of
living Christmas trees this month, few will realize the significant story that
one of these trees — the white pine — has played in the development of our
nation.
When the first Europeans arrived on our shores they were greeted by dense
forests of white pine, the run-of-the-mill variety attaining 150 feet in height
with 80 feet of clear trunk to the first limbs. Exceptional specimens,
unfortunately the first to be cut, measured 240 feet tall and rivaled the
remaining Douglas firs and redwoods of our western states. White pine lumber,
and especially mast wood, became, along with tobacco and pelts, this nation’s
first export items. Pre revolutionary shipping of white pine lumber to Africa
was the first leg in the triad that was used in the early days of the slave
trade. Ships sailing from Portsmouth, Boston or Salem took lumber to the coast
of Guinea in Africa where they exchanged it for their human cargo that was taken
to the West Indies where the slaves were left and sugar and rum was loaded for
the return trip to New England.
The English Crown was quick to recognize the value of the white pine as masts
for its sailing fleet. By the early 1700s there were laws regulating cutting of
trees deemed best suited for masts. Because of its great length, light weight
and high strength it was the ideal replacement for their Scotch pine masts that
had to be spliced to attain the desired length.
But these laws were no more popular with the colonists than the taxation of
tea, so they were widely disobeyed. Colonists would disguise themselves as
Indians and cut the marked trees at night. The crown retaliated with a law that
gave the land of anyone caught disguised as an Indian to the person who turned
them in. In 1774, the Continental Congress stopped the export of everything,
including masts, to England.
White pine occupied a range across most of New England to Wisconsin and south
down the Appalachian range to North Carolina, growing best in areas where there
is some winter snow. All virgin stands in the northern U.S. were cut by the end
of the 19th century with the southern stands cut by World War I. Much of the
momentum of the early conservation movement came because of the wanton
destruction of the primeval white pine forest.
The white pine is perhaps the best landscape pine in Arkansas. It is best
suited to the upland parts of the state, doing poorly in the heat and wet soils
of the south. It is fast growing and typically reaches 60 feet in height with a
pyramidal form and layered rings of branches that give the tree a unique
symmetry.
The 50-plus year old stand at Cass along the Pig Trail show what a
spectacular tree it can become. It is a five-needle pine with soft, gray-green
foliage that makes an effective background planting for many landscape
situations. If the tree is used as a living Christmas tree, it should only be
kept inside for five to seven days and then moved outside and planted as quickly
as possible.
By: Gerald Klingaman, retired
Extension Horticulturist
- Ornamentals
Extension News -
December 11, 1998
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