White Pine

white pine

A soft, light wood; works easily; does not split when nailed; does not swell or warp appreciably; widely used in building construction.

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White Pine 

(Pinus strobus), a tree of the pine family. Its trunk is straight and tall. In its native habitat in North America, it reaches a height of 60 m and a diameter of 150 cm. Young branches are bare, with soft gray-green needles (5-10 cm long) gathered in clumps of five each, which stay on the branches for two or three years. The cones are narrow and cylindrical (8-16 cm long) and are in groups of one to three on long stems. They ripen in the summer of the second year after flowering and open in the fall. The white pine begins to bear fruit after the 25th year, occasionally earlier. It prefers fresh sandy and loamy soils, in which it grows rapidly, outgrowing common pines, firs, and Siberian larch. It grows more poorly than these species in dry and poor soils. White pine is comparatively shade tolerant and wind resistant and is not affected by snow accumulation. It can survive frosts of -30° to -40° C. It is often infested with blebby rust.

White pine has been bred in Europe since the 17th century. It is cultivated as a forest and decorative type in the western and central regions of the European part of the USSR. The tree’s wood is soft and light. It is used in construction for interior parts of buildings; in the furniture, pencil, and match industries; and for plywood and cellulose.

A. P. SHIMANIUK