Pinus rigida (Pitch Pine)

Pinus rigida (Pitch Pine) is a large evergreen conifer of conical habit with a straight to somewhat curved trunk, and a broad, rounded or irregular crown of twisting, gnarled branches. The foliage of thick and stiff, yellow-green to dark green needles, up to 4 in. long (10 cm), is arranged in feathery tufts of 3. Borne in clusters of 3-5, the seed cones are yellowish-brown and egg-shaped and about 1-3 in. long (2-7 cm), with pointed scales held together with resin. The dark gray bark is thick, rough, and deeply furrowed. Native to eastern North America, Pitch Pine grows in shallow sands and gravels on steep slopes and ridges and in river valleys and swamps. It is a very hardy pine species that is resistant to fire and injury. After a fire, sprouts grow from the roots and stumps of the burned trees. Long-lived (200 years old), Pitch Pine is suitable for planting on dry rocky soil that other trees cannot tolerate, becoming open and irregular in shape in exposed situations. Twigs, leaves and seeds are important wildlife food. Pitch Pine was once a source of resin, hence the common name that refers to the high resin content of its knotty wood.

• Grows up to 40-60 ft. tall (12-18 m) and 30-50 ft. wide (9-15 m) at maturity.
• Performs best in full sun in any well-drained soils. Tolerates dry soils, drought and salt. Adapts to the driest, most unproductive sites, yet is also found in coastal swamps.
• Keep an eye out for adelgids, aphids, sawflies and pine shoot moth. Deer resistant.
• No pruning required.
• Propagate by seed.
• Native to the eastern United States from central Maine south to northern Georgia. There are outlying pitch pine populations as far west as western Kentucky. Pitch pine is most common on the Atlantic Coastal Plain. There are 2 disjunct Pitch Pine populations in Canada in southwestern Quebec and southeastern Ontario.