Slash Pine (Pinus elliottii)

Slash Pine is a variety of pine tree that hails from the southeastern part of the United States. It is a fast growing tree variety that grows well in humid climates and damp soils. Slash pine is called after the slashes, marshy ground dense with trees and shrubs that represent its environment. The other names of the Slash Pine tree include the yellow slash pine, pitch pine, or swamp pine. This tree variety is extensively developed in farms, and is used in horticulture, too. It may be differentiated from the associated loblolly pine by the fairly glossier, longer, needles and bigger red-brown colored cones and from longleaf pine by the smaller, slenderer needles and lesser cones with less wide scales. The tree is recognized for its tapering shape.

Features

The Slash Pine tree is capable of attaining a height, ranging from 59 feet to 98 feet, with a trunk diameter, ranging between 2 feet and 2.6 feet.

The leaves of this tree variety look like a needle, and they are extremely slender. These leaves usually grow in clusters, containing two or three leaves per cluster, with the length, ranging between 7.1 inches to 9.4 inches.

The male flower clusters of the Slash Pine tree are dark, rose-purple in color, whereas the female flowers are dark purple in color and they appear in clusters or in pairs.

The cones of the Slash Pine tree are shiny red-brown in color, with the length ranging from 5 cm to 15 cm, with a small, thick prickle, ranging from 2 mm to 3 mm on each scale.

Scales are skinny, even, and circular at the tip, the surrounded parts are reddish-brown in color, habitually wrinkled. The seeds have a maximum length of 0.5 inches and the wings with a length of about 1.5 inches and striped.

Uses

The Longleaf Pine tree is one among the biggest and renowned southern yellow pine varieties. These trees are ideal for the masts and spars of marine boats. The resinous substances of the tree are suitable for caulking the boarding of decks and hulls.

The Longleaf Pine trees are capable of surviving for more than 200 years.