I would guess that these are Scotch pine (Pinus sylvestris) since they have 2 twisted needles per fascicle. It could possibly be Virginia pine (P. virginiana), but the cones look different than I'm used to seeing . Pitch pines have 3 needles per fascicle.
I would also guess that their contorted growth form is the result of its location, being exposed to heavy winds, sandy soil, salt spray, etc.
John, big thanks for this, cool indeed. I'm getting a lot of texts and emails and I'm going to do more research before saying much more, but I will say that a number of people are agreeing with your initial conjecture, and perhaps I should be putting on kilts when I visit these trees. Very best, Seth
Your photos are of pitch pines. They are the first trees to come up on denuded land. They grow in sand and turn brown with salt water spray and tropical storms that carry sea water. Under these conditions they develop a pretty good size tap root for fresh water. One average size tree will easily drink a hundred of gallons of water a day in summer. Nevertheless they are like a bonsai tree in a small dish. Never growing up like pines in central and western mass.
So stem size is not a reflection of their age. Due to harsh conditions here…the closer to the salt the more mangled and smaller they are. See this as you drive up the highway off cape..away from the ocean they get bigger.
Wood is of better quality too…fibers won’t crack when you build with it. I couldn’t even build a small draw handle with cape cod pitch pine wood. I have seen some thick slab woods work as boards but the Miller really needs to know what s/he is doing. The wood and it’s other parts burn like paper. Good fire starting material compared to oak.
Our pitch pines die from the bottom up.
You can judge their age by how many branches are green up to the crown. A pitch pine on its last legs will have a green top and that’s it. Eventually that will die - you then get a ton of pine cones and sticks on the ground, the bark falls off and we are left with a whiteish stick. In other words, they slowly melt. In the process they provide good insect and bird habitat.
Few fall over or cause damage- they look more ominous than they are. Really got to have a hell of a blow to get them to go over.
One will have oaks go too in those storms.
Snow can catch in their needles and bend them over. They will snap if stems and branches are frozen under those conditions.
They also die around here quickly from pine bore beetles. Those buggers can be detected by oval holes in the stem. Only thing to do to protect other nearby pine trees that may be unaffected is cut and remove the infected tree wood from the forest area.
So if you like your pines, don’t go pruning them. Removal of their lower branches will take years off their life.
Take out oak and maple, locust…other tree saplings if you want to keep a pine forest going. Otherwise the hardwood s - mostly oaks will dominate.
Enjoy their sound with the wind in them.
The smell of needles cooking in a hot June sun. The cool shade in summer and green in winter ?
Local lore says that the WPA project during the 1930s did a lot of planting on the Cape, perhaps including a beautiful stand of cedars on the other side of my hill. But unsure at this point if these originally were planted and then spread slowly. Seems very possible given their location.
This is a wonderful response, Peter, so much appreciated. But I'm not convinced these are pitch pines, only in part given how big they have become close to the marsh, in some ways the opposite of your great characterization of the pitch's bonsai nature (you might note in my intro to this column that I compare the Cape as a whole to a bonsai). Also the two-cluster needle as opposed to three. I've gotten many responses and conjectures already and I'm going to do some more research and report back before saying anything definitive, that's for sure (now there's a definitive!).
I would guess that these are Scotch pine (Pinus sylvestris) since they have 2 twisted needles per fascicle. It could possibly be Virginia pine (P. virginiana), but the cones look different than I'm used to seeing . Pitch pines have 3 needles per fascicle.
I would also guess that their contorted growth form is the result of its location, being exposed to heavy winds, sandy soil, salt spray, etc.
John, big thanks for this, cool indeed. I'm getting a lot of texts and emails and I'm going to do more research before saying much more, but I will say that a number of people are agreeing with your initial conjecture, and perhaps I should be putting on kilts when I visit these trees. Very best, Seth
Your photos are of pitch pines. They are the first trees to come up on denuded land. They grow in sand and turn brown with salt water spray and tropical storms that carry sea water. Under these conditions they develop a pretty good size tap root for fresh water. One average size tree will easily drink a hundred of gallons of water a day in summer. Nevertheless they are like a bonsai tree in a small dish. Never growing up like pines in central and western mass.
So stem size is not a reflection of their age. Due to harsh conditions here…the closer to the salt the more mangled and smaller they are. See this as you drive up the highway off cape..away from the ocean they get bigger.
Wood is of better quality too…fibers won’t crack when you build with it. I couldn’t even build a small draw handle with cape cod pitch pine wood. I have seen some thick slab woods work as boards but the Miller really needs to know what s/he is doing. The wood and it’s other parts burn like paper. Good fire starting material compared to oak.
Our pitch pines die from the bottom up.
You can judge their age by how many branches are green up to the crown. A pitch pine on its last legs will have a green top and that’s it. Eventually that will die - you then get a ton of pine cones and sticks on the ground, the bark falls off and we are left with a whiteish stick. In other words, they slowly melt. In the process they provide good insect and bird habitat.
Few fall over or cause damage- they look more ominous than they are. Really got to have a hell of a blow to get them to go over.
One will have oaks go too in those storms.
Snow can catch in their needles and bend them over. They will snap if stems and branches are frozen under those conditions.
They also die around here quickly from pine bore beetles. Those buggers can be detected by oval holes in the stem. Only thing to do to protect other nearby pine trees that may be unaffected is cut and remove the infected tree wood from the forest area.
So if you like your pines, don’t go pruning them. Removal of their lower branches will take years off their life.
Take out oak and maple, locust…other tree saplings if you want to keep a pine forest going. Otherwise the hardwood s - mostly oaks will dominate.
Enjoy their sound with the wind in them.
The smell of needles cooking in a hot June sun. The cool shade in summer and green in winter ?
Almost hard to call them trees but I love them.
I would need to see bark more closely. Possible it’s Scotch.
Do you think they are planted ?
Local lore says that the WPA project during the 1930s did a lot of planting on the Cape, perhaps including a beautiful stand of cedars on the other side of my hill. But unsure at this point if these originally were planted and then spread slowly. Seems very possible given their location.
This is a wonderful response, Peter, so much appreciated. But I'm not convinced these are pitch pines, only in part given how big they have become close to the marsh, in some ways the opposite of your great characterization of the pitch's bonsai nature (you might note in my intro to this column that I compare the Cape as a whole to a bonsai). Also the two-cluster needle as opposed to three. I've gotten many responses and conjectures already and I'm going to do some more research and report back before saying anything definitive, that's for sure (now there's a definitive!).
Thanks a million for this great note. Seth