Types of Pine Trees

Loblolly Pine

Botanical Name	Pinus taeda
Other Names	Old-field pine, North Carolina pine
Description	Generally 80 to 100 feet tall with a 24-inch diameter. A large, resinous, fragrant tree with a rounded crown of spreading branches. Usually has a tall, straight trunk free of branches on the lower portion of the tree.
Habitat	From deep, poorly drained floodplains to well-drained slopes of rolling, hilly, uplands. Forms pure stands, often on abandoned farmland.
Range	Southern New Jersey south to central Florida, west to east Texas, north to extreme southeast Oklahoma.
Usages	Timber   Loblolly is considered the principal commercial pine species of the southeastern states because of its wide range, abundance, and adaptability to a variety of sites. Among the fastest-growing southern pines, it is extensively cultivated in forest plantations for pulpwood and lumber.   Wildlife Birds and small mammals eat the seed. This species provides habitat for bobwhite quail, white-tail deer, wild turkey, and squirrel. Old-growth stands provide nesting habitat for the red-cockaded woodpecker.
General Comments	Loblolly pine is native in 15 southeastern states.

Longleaf Pine

Botanical Name	Pinus palustris
Other Names	Longleaf yellow pine, southern yellow pine
Description	Generally 80 to 100 feet tall with a 24-inch diameter. Large tree with the longest needles and largest cones of any eastern pine with an open, irregular crown of few spreading branches; 1 row added each year.
Habitat	Well-drained sandy soils of flatlands and sandhills; often in pure stands.
Range	Found in the Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plains from southeastern Virginia to central Florida and west to eastern Texas, and in the Piedmont region and Valley and Ridge province of Georgia and Alabama.
Usages	Timber   The wood is clear, straight with few defects, and used for timber and shipbuilding.   Wildlife Birds and small mammals eat the large seeds. This species provides excellent habitat for bobwhite quail, white-tailed deer, wild turkey, and squirrel. Old-growth stands provide nesting habitat for the red-cockaded woodpecker.   Erosion Control Highly recommended species for reforestation of dry, infertile, deep sand in the southern U.S.
General Comments	Longleaf is used, along with slash pine, for commercial production of naval stores. Resin is used in the naval stores industry for gum turpentine and rosin production.

Slash Pine

Botanical Name	Pinus elliottii
Other Names	Yellow slash pine, swamp pine
Description	Generally 60 to 100 feet tall with a 24-inch diameter. Large tree with a narrow, regular, pointed crown of horizontal branches and long needles.
Habitat	Grows in low areas such as pond margins, upland and old fields, flatwoods, and swamps, including poorly drained sandy soils.
Range	Coastal plains from southern South Carolina to south Florida, and west to southwest Louisiana.
Usages	Timber   Its wood is used for pulp, poles, piling, crossties, lumber, crates, boxes, and turpentine.   Wildlife The pine seeds of slash pine are an excellent food source for gray and fox squirrels and wild turkey.   Beautifications Its beauty makes it popular as a shade and ornamental tree.
General Comments	One of the fastest-growing southern pines. Use for naval stores in the past.

The information above comes from the National Audubon Society Field Guide to North America Trees, Eastern Region and/or the NRCS Plant Fact Sheet or Plant Guides.