Eastern White Pine

Pinus strobus (PY-nus STROH-bus)

Family: Pinaceae Native Canopy (>40 ft)

Canopy (>40 ft)Native

Eastern white pine is an evergreen conifer tree in the Pinaceae (pine) family. This pine’s origin is in the northeastern United States and Canada. It may grow 50 to 80 feet tall and 20 to 40 feet wide. Eastern white pine grows naturally in high, dry, sandy and rocky ridges and is tolerant of a wide range of soil conditions. It prefers full sun; moist, well-drained, fertile sandy loams; and cool, humid climates. It is intolerant of many air pollutants such as sulfur dioxide and ozone, salts, and alkaline soils. This pine is an important timber tree (perhaps more so in the 18th and 19th centuries than now) valued for its lightweight, straight-grained wood. It is utilized as a Christmas tree in large areas such as parks, commercial areas, and estates. The pine cones are sold as tree decorations for models, model railroading, and Christmas decorations. This plant is an attractive, ornamental, landscape tree, singly and in hedges, borders, or woodland areas. Alternatively, plant it in a native, butterfly, pollinator, or nighttime garden, as it will attract butterflies and other pollinators, songbirds, and small mammals. Fire Risk: This plant has a high flammability rating and should not be planted within the defensible space of your home. Select plants with a low flammability rating for the sites nearest your home. Quick ID Hints: Gymnosperm tree with branches and twigs whorled Needles are bluish-green, soft, pliable, and in fives Cones are narrow cylindrical, scales whiten at the apex Insects, Diseases, or Other Plant Problems: It is susceptible to blights, canker, and rusts, especially white pine blister rust, which is usually fatal. Insect problems include white pine weevil, bark beetles, white pine shoot borer, Zimmerman moth larvae, pine sawfly, scale, and aphids. Spider mites are occasional visitors in some areas. This tree is susceptible to wind damage. VIDEO Created by Homegrown featuring Jeff Owen , Area Extension Forestry Specialist for NC State Extension More information on Pinus .

Source: NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox ↗ NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox, 64 attributes.

How it fits the guild

Guild layer 1 - Canopy (>40 ft) Optimal soil pH Acid (<6.0)

See companions & conflicts ↓

Companions & Conflicts

Curated pairwise relationships between this plant and others in the library — who feeds whom, who competes, who confuses the pests. Green reads as a good pairing, red as one to avoid.

No curated interactions recorded for this species yet.

Also noted by NC State

Related species the NC State Plant Toolbox flags for this plant — look-alikes to tell apart, and plants that play a similar role in a planting. Ones we carry in the library are linked.

Often confused with Cedrus atlantica Pinus flexilis Pinus jeffreyi Pinus monticola

Fills a similar niche Juniperus virginiana Pinus taeda Tsuga canadensis

Full plant profile

Growing Conditions

Plant type: Native Plant; Perennial; Tree
Life cycle: Woody
USDA zones: 3a, 3b, 4a, 4b, 5a, 5b, 6a, 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b
Light: Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day) | Partial Shade (Direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)
Soil texture: High Organic Matter; Loam (Silt); Sand
Soil pH: Acid (<6.0)
Soil drainage: Good Drainage | Moist | Occasionally Dry
Available space: 24-60 feet; more than 60 feet
NC region: Mountains; Piedmont
Mature size: Height: 50 ft. 0 in. - 80 ft. 0 in. | Width: 20 ft. 0 in. - 40 ft. 0 in.
Growth rate: Rapid
Maintenance: Low
Canopy layer: 1 - Canopy (>40 ft)

Form & Appearance

Habit / form: Conical; Horizontal; Oval; Pyramidal; Spreading
Texture: Medium
Foliage: Needled Evergreen
Leaf color: Blue; Green
Leaf type: Needles; Simple
Leaf shape: Filiform
Leaf margin: Entire
Leaf feel: Soft
Leaf value: Fragrant
Leaf size: 3-6 inches long, < 1 inch wide
Hairs present: No
Leaf detail: Bluish-green needles (3" to 5" long) are flexible, soft to the touch, and appear in bundles of five (5 per fascicle). Each needle has 3-5 white lines of stomata on two surfaces of the needle. The needle clusters are deciduous, falling off after approximately two years.
Flower color: Gold/Yellow; Green; Insignificant; Red/Burgundy
Flower detail: No flowers, cones. In spring, cylindrical, yellow, male strobili, and the female strobili are light green tinged with red that matures in clusters appear in April.
Bloom time: Spring
Fruit color: Brown/Copper
Fruit value: Showy
Fruit size: > 3 inches long
Fruit detail: No fruits. Cylindrical, brown, resinous cones on the Eastern White Pine (4-8" long) are usually not produced until the tree reaches 5-10 years old. They fully mature by the summer of the second season, releasing seeds in July and August and persisting through September. The cones are stalked, curved, and have white lines on the lower side, the scales lacking spines. Often curved that browns with age. Umbo is blunt and obtuse.
Bark color: Dark Brown; Dark Gray; Light Gray
Bark detail: The bark is smooth and green with some lighter patches in young trees. As the tree ages, the bark turns reddish brown to dark gray with prominent finely-scaly, rounded, long ridges and darker furrows.
Stem color: Brown/Copper; Gray/Silver; Green; Orange
Stem detail: The stems are grayish-green to orangish-brown. The buds are oval and reddish-brown.

Wildlife & Ecology

Native status: Native
Origin: Central and Eastern Canada, Central and Eastern United States
Distribution: Native: United States--AL, CT, DE, GA, IL, IN, IA, KY, ME MD, MA, MI, MN, NH, NJ, NY, NC, OH, PA, RI, SC, TN, VT, VA, WV, and WI; Canada--Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, and Quebec. Introduced: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Central European Russia, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Korea, Norway, Poland, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and Turkey.
Wildlife value: This plant supports Imperial Moth (Eacles imperialis) larvae which have one brood per season and appear from April-October in the south. Adult Imperial Moths do not feed. Its white pine seeds are favored by black bears, rabbits, red squirrels, and many birds. The bark is eaten by mammals such as beavers, porcupines, rabbits, and mice. The tree also serves as a shelter for many birds and small mammals.
Attracts: Moths; Small Mammals; Songbirds
Play value: Wildlife Cover/Habitat; Wildlife Food Source

Food & Medicine

Harvest time: Fall

Uses (ethnobotany)

Used for tar, furniture, christmas tree and bark used as astringent and expectorant or antiseptic.

Landscape Use

Landscape location: Woodland
Landscape theme: Native Garden; Nighttime Garden; Winter Garden
Design feature: Hedge; Screen/Privacy; Shade Tree; Specimen
Garden tags: #tsc #evergreen #deer resistant #squirrel friendly #beavers #porcupines #mice #rabbit resistant #conifer #fire high flammability #Braham Arboretum #NC native #native tree #food source fall #fantz #bird friendly #Christmas trees #tsc-cg #Coastal FACU #Piedmont Mountains FACU #food source herbage #food source hard mast fruit #Audubon #Christmas decorations #bonsai #imperial moth #larval host plant #nighttime garden #wind damage prone #fire extreme flammability #landscape plant sleuths course #needled evergreen #specimen #large tree #bear friendly #wildlife friendly #cpp #HS111 #HS304 #winter cover #fpp

Problems & Resistance

Insect problems: White Pine Aphid; Introduced Pine Sawfly; Twospotted Spider Mites on Landscape Plants; Pine Pest Management Calendar; Powdery Pine Needle Aphid; Pests of Conifers; Pine Bark Adelgid; Pine Engraver Beetles; Pine Spittlebug; Deodar Weevil / Eastern Pine Weevil; Southern Pine Sawyer; Pine Bark Beetles; Chestnut Brown Bark Beetle
Resistant to: Deer; Rabbits
Propagation: Seed
Fire risk: high flammability

Planted at Hunnicutt

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