BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Pinus echinata | Shortleaf Pine 



GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS : 
Shortleaf pine is a medium-sized, native, evergreen conifer with
relatively short needles and thin, flaky, black bark that becomes
reddish brown with age [43].  Shortleaf pine attains a height of 100
feet (30 m) and a d.b.h. of 24 to 36 inches (61-91 cm).  Individuals
generally grow straight and have conical crowns.  Shortleaf pine is
capable of growing a deep taproot and is resistant to windthrow [24].


RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM : 
   Phanerophyte (mesophanerophyte)


REGENERATION PROCESSES : 
Seed production and dissemination: Shortleaf pine is monoecious.  It
begins producing seeds at 20 years of age.  The cone yields 25 to 38
seeds.  A good cone crop, 80,000 seeds per acre (200,000/ha), occurs
every 3 to 10 years in the North and every 3 to 6 years in the South.
Seeds are equipped with wings and are dispersed as far as 200 to 300
feet (61-91 m), although most fall close to the source tree [1,24].

Seedling development:  Seeds on the ground are naturally stratified
during the winter and epigeal germination takes place in the early
spring [24].  The viability of seeds decreases as the period of seed
fall progresses [42].  Exposed mineral soil aids seedling establishment
[20,24].  The seedling stem grows slowly the first 2 years while the
root system develops.  One to three-year-old open-grown seedlings and 3
to 9-year-old shade-grown seedlings fall over and remain semiprostrate
for 1 to 2 years before resuming erect positions.  A permanent crook
develops at the cotyledon.  The crook, at ground level, is later
obscured by the thickening stem after a tree reaches 8 to 10 feet
(2.4-3.0 m) in height [28,32,42].  If suppressed by competition,
seedlings will have poorly developed crooks [28].

Vegetative reproduction:  If the crown is damaged or killed, shortleaf
pine up to 6-8 inches (15-20 cm) in d.b.h. sprouts vigorously from
dormant axillary buds at the root crown and dormant buds at nodes in the
bole [24,28,32,42].

Rooting habits:  Shortleaf pine grows a large, massive taproot in deep
soil with adequate drainage, but often does not in shallow soil where
the subsoil is hard or clayey [18,24,42].  Roots have a low tolerance
for poor soil aeration and high water table conditions [24,32].  Lateral
roots grow near the surface with 56 to 64 percent of the roots in the
top 6 inches (15 cm) of soil and 17 to 25 percent from 6 to 12 inches
(15-30 cm) [2].  Seedlings grown in place are more likely to have a
downward-oriented root system than planted seedlings [18].


SITE CHARACTERISTICS : 
Shortleaf pine is common in the Atlantic and Gulf coastal plains, the
upper and lower Piedmont, and on floodplains.  It ranges in elevation
from 10 to 3,000 feet (3-910 m), and usually grows on south- or
west-facing slopes.  Shortleaf pine commonly grows on old agricultural
fields [24,42].

Shortleaf pine has great adaptability, but grows best on moist,
well-drained, deep, sandy or silty loam.  Soils are typically Ultisols.
Shortleaf pine does not grow well in soils with high pH, high calcium
content, excessive internal drainage, or high organic content [24].
While shortleaf pine generally occurs with loblolly pine, shortleaf pine
prevails on the drier, coarser, less acidic, and infertile sites [5,45].

Common overstory associates include scarlet oak (Quercus coccinea),
southern red oak (Q. falcata), water oak (Q. nigra), willow oak (Q.
Phellos), blackgum (Nyssa sylvatica), sweetgum (Liquidambar
styraciflua), Table Mountain pine (Pinus pungens), mockernut and pignut
hickories (Carya tomentosa and C. glabra), winged elm (Ulmus alata),
sourwood (Oxydendrum arboreum), red maple (Acer rubrum), American beech
(Fagus grandifolia), and Carolina ash (Fraxinus caroliniana) [24,40].
(Also see SAF cover types).

Common understory woody species include mountain laurel (Kalmia
latifolia), flowering dogwood (Cornus florida), redbud (Cercis
canadensis), and persimmon (Diospyros virginiana).  Because of shortleaf
pine's wide distribution, associated understory shrubs, vines, and
herbaceous species are numerous [24].


SUCCESSIONAL STATUS : 
Shortleaf pine is shade intolerant and is suppressed by hardwood
competition.  It commonly grows in even-aged stands [24].  Shortleaf
pine, a pioneer species, invades old agricultural fields.  Many
shortleaf pine stands became established after the Civil War when fields
were abandoned [40].  Shortleaf pine invasion of oldfields begins within
5 years of abandonment, and a closed-canopy stand is formed after 10 to
15 years.  A 40-year-old shortleaf pine stand may have a considerable
hardwood understory.  In the absence of fire, hardwoods attain dominance
[2,3,5,14,42].  After 150 to 200 years, only a few relict pines may
remain [3].

In the New Jersey Pine Barrens, where fire frequency is less than 10
years, pitch pine and scrub oaks (Quercus spp.) supplant shortleaf pine
[26].  In Alabama, shortleaf pine will succeed longleaf pine (Pinus
palustris) in the absence of fire [41].



SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT : 
Shortleaf pine flowers in late March in the South and in late April in
the North.  Cones mature in the late summer or early fall of the second
growing season [21,24].  Seed dispersal begins in late October or early
November, and generally coincides with a cold front bringing low
temperatures, low humidity, and high winds [42].  Seventy percent of the
seeds fall in 1 month and 90 percent within 2 months [24].

Related categories for Species: Pinus echinata | Shortleaf Pine