HLC-04

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Red Pine (Pinus resinosa)

Common Name: Red Pine
Scientific Name: Pinus resinosa
Other Names:

Leaf: Needles in bundles of 2; 10-16cm long, straight, pointy, shiny dark green, and brittle (breaks when bent); edges finely and sharply toothed.
Flower: Male (pollen) and female (seed) cones on the same tree; pollen cones small, yellow, clustered at the base of new shoots; seed cones egg-shaped, 4-7cm long, nearly stalkless, without prickles, scales slightly thinkened at the tips.
Fruit: Seeds dull, often mottled, about 5mm long; seed production begins at 15-25 years; good seed crops every 3-7 years.
Twig: Twigs thick, rough, shiny, orange to reddish brown; buds sharp-pointed, red-brown, 1.5-2cm long with overlapping loose, hairy, white-fringed scales.
Bark: Young bark reddish to pinkish-brown, scaly; mature bark has broad, flat, scaly plates 2.5-4cm thick.
Wood: Wood relatively light, moderately hard, strong, resinous; heartwood pale brown and sapwood yellowish-white; annual growth rings distinct.

Facts About This Tree:
1. Red pine is a medium-sized tree growing up to 25m high and 75cm in diameter. Lives 200 years.
2. There are only two pine species in eastern Canada that has long (>10cm), 2-bundled needles: red pine (native) and austrian pine (non-native). Here’s how to distinguish the two: austrian pine cones have scales with prickles and its needles are bendable (not easily snapped) while red pine needles are brittle (easily snapped). In urban area, you will encounter austrian pine far more than red pine. For example, City of Toronto has 25 times more austrian pines than it has red pines.
3. Red pine needs plenty of sun to grow and it grows well on sand plains, rock outcrops and sites where soil fertility is low. Natural stands usually establish when fire removes competing trees and pests, leaving an open seedbed for the wind-borne seeds.
4. Many songbirds, red squirrels, chipmunks, mice and voles eat red pine seeds.

Lat, Long: 43.73763, -79.78834
Diameter (DBH): 19.2 cm
Last Year Modified: 2015
Carbon Stored in this Tree: 53.336 kg of C
Equivalent CO2: 195.546 kg of C

Find more trees in Heart Lake Conservation Area.

Reference
1. Blouin, Glen. 2001. An Eclectic Guide to Trees East of the Rockies. Erin, ON. Boston Mills Press
2. Linda Kershaw. 2001. Trees of Ontario. Edmonton, AB Canada. Lone Pine Publishing
3. Farrar, J. L. 2007. Trees in Canada. ON. Canadian Forest Service.
4. Photo Credt: ‘n54_w1150′ by Biodiversity Heritage Library, via Flickr – https://flic.kr/p/cSZXQy; ‘Red Pine (Pinus resinosa)’ by Joshua Mayer, via Flickr – https://flic.kr/p/obxcTk; ‘Pinus resinosa foliagecone’ by timmenzies on Flickr, via Wikimedia Commons – http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pinus_resinosa_foliagecone.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Pinus_resinosa_foliagecone.jpg; ‘Pinus resinosa cone’ by Keith Kanoti, Maine Forest Service, via Wikimedia Commons – http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pinus_resinosa_cone.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Pinus_resinosa_cone.jpg; ‘Pinus resinosa Itasca’ by Joseph O’Brien, USDA Forest Service, via Wikimedia Commons – http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pinus_resinosa_Itasca.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Pinus_resinosa_Itasca.jpg

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