Meet the Pond Pine! 🌿

TERMINOLOGY TUESDAY 🌿
w/ the Florida Native Plant Society!

Meet the Pond Pine!

Pond Pine
Pinus serotina
Family: Pinaceae

Pond Pine is the forgotten pine of Florida! This medium-sized species grows 40-70 feet tall and occurs sporadically across North Florida on wet, poorly drained sites where the water table typically fluctuates and fire occurs during drought: wet flatwoods, savannas, pocosins, and bay swamps.

Pinus serotina is notable for its epicormic growth, which is the development of branches from dormant buds beneath the bark. This growth is an adaptation to the loss of needles and branches from fire damage. New growth allows the tree to regenerate and increase its photosynthetic capacity. This branching habit is not found in any other pines in Florida and is an easily identifiable feature of the species.

🌿Characteristic Features

BARK: The mature bark is dark grey to reddish brown, furrowed into irregular, narrow, and vertical scaly plates. The bark is often darkened black by fire scars.

NEEDLES: 5-8 inches long, occurring in bundles of three, sometimes four. They are yellow-green, notably not straight (slightly wavy), and typically held away, almost perpendicular to the slender stems. Due to the epicormic growth in response to fire, the twigs are numerous, thin, and often messily arranged.

FEMALE CONES: the distinctive short, squat cones are serotinous; they open and release their seeds when exposed to fire. The mature cones can remain closed on the tree for 10 or more years, waiting for fire to create the open and fertile conditions most favorable for seedling success. The closed cones are conical, 2-3 inches long, and become rounded, almost spherical when open. Because they remain so long on the tree, the fallen cones typically age to a pale grey with a few dull spines remaining, while the fresher cones are a russet brown.

Thanks for tuning in! 👋🏻

Video & description by Lilly Anderson-Messec,
FNPS Director of North Florida Programs

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