Pond Pine

Pinus serotina

The Pond Pine, also known as Pocosin Pine, is found in small swamps and generally on acidic, poorly drained sandy or peaty soils throughout northern and central Florida. It averages 50-70 feet in height with a trunk diameter of one to two feet. The trunk is often slightly crooked and somewhat rough with knots or bulges. The tree somewhat resembles Loblolly Pine, but can be distinguished most easily by the broader and shorter cones, and its habitat generally on wet or very acid soils.

The needles occur in bundles of three, or occasionally two or four intermixed, and range in length from five to eight inches. Short, needle-bearing branchlets often appear on the trunk and larger branches. The cones, are broadly egg-shaped when open, and two to three inches long. As in all pines, they take two years to mature, but they often persist on the trees, open or unopen, for many years.

Bark of Pond Pine is dark red-brown and irregularly divided by shallow furrows.

The wood is resinous, heavy, often coarse-grained, orange-colored, with pale yellowish, wide sapwood. It is sawed and sold without discrimination along with lumber of other southern pines.

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Tree information provided with permission of the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services for more information visit https://www.fdacs.gov/.