Leaf: needles; evergreen, 4 1/4-6 1/2" (11-16.5 cm) long; 2 in bundle; slender; dark green.
Flower: staminate crowded into several purple spikes up to 1/2" long, pistillate crowded into fewer scarlet clusters
Fruit: cones; 1 1/2-2 1/4" (4-6 cm) long; egg-shaped; shiny light brown; almost stalkless; opening and shedding soon after maturity; cone-scales slightly thickened, keeled, without prickle.
Bark: reddish-brown or gray; with broad, flat, scaly plates; becoming thick.
Form: large tree with broad irregular or rounded crown of spreading branches, one row of branches added each year.
Habitat: well drained soils; particularly sand plains; usually in mixed forest.
Range: southeastern Manitoba east to Nova Scotia, south to Pennsylvania, and west to Minnesota. Local in Newfoundland, northern Illinois and eastern West Virginia. At 700-1400' (213-427 m) northward; to 2700' (823 m) in Adirondacks; and at 3800-4300' (1158-1311 m) in West Virginia.
Location: on Bunker Hill High School Campus, north of parking lot.
latitude: 39o02.43N
longitude 089o57.64W
The red pine is used as an ornamental and shade tree. The wood is used for ships, bridges, general construction, planing-mill products, millwork, and pulpwood.
© Community Unit School District #8, Bunker Hill
504 E. Warren, Bunker Hill, IL 62014
References:
Little, Elbert L. Field Guide to Trees: Eastern Region. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf Inc., 1980.
Mohlenbrock, Robert H. Forest Trees of Illinois. Springfield, IL: 1992